


Clear

by leeeel



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-09-02 03:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 33,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8649892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leeeel/pseuds/leeeel
Summary: AU Michonne and long-time boyfriend Mike Anthony both own and manage one of Atlanta's top Art Gallery.While their business is going great and only getting better, their relationship is faltering. Just how will her new acquaintance with businessman Rick Grimes completely change her world?





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

Michonne arrived at her favourite park in downtown Atlanta for her routine Tuesday run. It was just about 5:30 in the evening, and the weather was perfectly cool and breezy. Invigorated she took in a deep breath, plugged in her headphones and started her three-minute warm-up. Michonne always loved running, it helped to de-stress her and clear her mind from her worries. She usually tried to get her workout in four times a week, but, things didn't always pan out that way. Today, however, she was here. She had made it.

Rosita, her good friend who would usually accompany her, started taking baking classes with her boyfriend Spencer on Tuesdays about a month ago consequentially leaving her on her own. "Mich it's so intimate. It's so much fun. I think you and Mike should join us, really. He'd love it." raved Rosita. 'No, he wouldn't' she thought to herself. Mike didn't do anything "fun" with her anymore. It was always work. He was always busy with their art gallery. Business was good...no, great! That was his everything now. As the poison of loneliness began to take hold of her heart, she took another deep breath and began jogging down the path.

The park wasn't overcrowded just as she liked it to be. She saw some faces that were familiar, and some that were not. Truthfully she was specifically searching those faces for someone in particular. Someone who had, by chance, become a place-holder for Rosita on her Tuesday runs.

About half way into her first lap, someone came up from behind her and lightly tapped her right shoulder. Startled, she spun around instantly only to find the handsome face she was looking out for.

"Hey, sorry I'm late."

She pulled out her headphones as a huge smile spread across her face.

"Hey Rick. Glad to see you" she said.

"Glad to see you too." He replied with a lopsided grin.

"Work?"

He nodded "Yeah. Nothing I couldn't handle."

As he smiled and stared at her, she felt as though his eyes were inquiring something of her. Those eyes...piercing,inquisitive, yet secretive. She had to look away.

"Ok, I only just got started." She nodded her head forward and they resumed jogging around the path. "No knee band today?" she asked as she glanced over to him.

"I just rushed out, didn't have the time."

"You didn't have to rush Rick. Putting it on is important..."

"I know, I shouldn't risk aggravatin' the old injury, but like I said I was in a rush. Plus it ain't all bad."

"Ok tough guy. But need I remind you that that same careless attitude is how we met in the first place."

He chuckled "Yeah...wasn't my best moment there." He shook his head and grinned as he recalled how Michonne found him that day in that same park three weeks ago, in agony on the ground clutching his dislocated knee.

"Well it wasn't all bad was it?" He stopped momentarily to hold her attention and she did too. "I mean I made a new friend." He said with a grin on his face.

"Oh is that what we are? Friends?" she replied with a smirk. He laughed and shrugged his shoulders "Well you did help me out when I was in a bind, and in return, I've been paying you back by keeping you company on your runs. You know ..." he paused looking around the park, "...it ain't safe for a woman such as yourself to be out here alone."

"Oh please Rick, I can handle myself."

"You never know who might be watching."

Just then Michonne noticed that her new "friend" glanced down at her and back up again while biting his bottom lip. 'Umm ok...' she thought to herself. 'Michonne be careful with this one. What were you even thinking picking up strangers?' she inwardly reprimanded herself. Indeed, befriending Mr. Rick Grimes was definitely out-of-character for her. But, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was just... something. Yes he was handsome and good-natured and all of that BUT, there was something else, something more. 'Something' she thought, 'behind those pretty eyes,'. She was intrigued from the moment they met. Of course she wasn't being completely foolish, as a matter of fact she never revealed to him her last name, where she lived or even where she worked. She kept their conversations casual and impersonal. At least she tried to. Rick on the other hand was like a damn spy. He persistently questioned her on everything.

"So Ms. Michonne no-last-name-required, you gonna tell me how was your day today?"he asked teasingly.

She laughed bemusedly while turning to continue jogging. Rick followed.

"All in all it wasn't too bad." She admitted concisely, then quickly followed with "How was it for you? Everything on schedule?"

"Looks like it, which means, Michonne, this might be the last time we see each other before I head back home to Washington. You know these business trips of mine usually go one way or the other, nothing too interesting ever occurs. Always the same...But this…I'm glad we met if only for a little while."

"Yeah, me too" she conceded.

"Besides, because things have gone well with this deal I got a new partner here in Atlanta, so I'll be back some time. Maybe we could see each other again? I haven't been a complete pain have I?" he joked.

" No, not a complete pain."

After continuing some time in silence, Michonne decided to take a chance with this man. She did enjoy the time they spent together, as brief as it was, and she felt a pang of guilt for being overly guarded with this seemingly kind stranger.

"Hey tomorrow night…" she hesitated.

"Yeah".

"I umm have a private showing at work. An exhibition…" Michonne was a little bit surprised at her sudden nervousness. Where did her cool calm collected self disappear to all of a sudden she asked herself.

"An exhibition?" he asked confused.

"Yeah, an art exhibition. I manage an art gallery not too far from here actually. Invitation only. If you'd like you can come and check out some of the talent Atlanta has to offer. Might find something of interest to you."

Rick tried his best to hide his genuine surprise at the sudden invitation. Keeping his eyes in front of him, not wanting her to see how pleased he was, he slightly nodded his head "Yeah, I think I might." He responded.

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Rick Grimes headed over to the vehicle waiting for him and got into the passenger side.

"Well, how'd it go?" inquired the beautiful blonde woman sitting behind the wheel.

"We're in. A private exhibition tomorrow night at seven."

"Finally, I was starting to wonder there about you Agent Grimes. It took you long enough."

Rick squinted his eyes at his partner while sucking in his lips momentarily.

"She's extremely guarded. She's got this wall up constantly, like it's almost second nature.'

"You mean like she's hiding something." His partner interjected. "Well agent tomorrow night we'll make the best of this opportunity. It's the opening we needed. You did good Rick."

"Yeah, we'll see".


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
FBI agent Rick Grimes sat waiting patiently in his Black sedan rental outside the hotel. His partner, agent Andrea Harrison was still not ready and it was already 7:05 p.m. 'We're gonna make a bad first impression' he thought to himself. He hated to be kept waiting, and after working together for three years at the Bureau, Andrea definitely knew this about him. Just as he was about to go drag her out she came hurrying towards the car.

"Sorry sorry sorry" she huffed as she got in to the car trying to avoid his glare. "My zipper got stuck, and...ugh….But anyways, what do you think?" she asked, smoothening out her dress. It was a navy blue, chiffon and satin sleeveless dress that stopped just above her knees.

"You look like a bridesmaid."

"Excuse me? No need to be rude Rick" she retorted.

"C'mon grab the file we're late." He said as he started the car and drove off.  
Andrea reached to the back and grabs their case file leafing through the pages.  
"Umm ok so tonight, Mr. Michael, aka Mike, Anthony and Ms. Michonne Danvers are hosting rising star Noah Davis. It's his second exhibition at the ASZ Art Gallery."

"And Michael Anthony is gonna be there for sure?" Rick asked.

"Oh yeah, like I said earlier he flew back in to Atlanta this morning. He wouldn't miss THIS private showing, Noah Davis' pieces are the new rave so the 'money' is definitely going to be there. The collectors, the investors, the dealers…"

"Well that's where you come in Ms. Harrison. And you just, you know, be careful."

"It isn't my first time at the rodeo."

"Yeah but you tend to get carried away."

"Well that's what you're here for, to have my back."  
Andrea returned the file to the back seat, "Besides, is it me we should be worried about getting carried away?" she teased with a grin.

Rick burrowed his eyebrows "Excuse me?"

"Excuse me indeed! Rick…"

"What Andrea?"

"Rick! Ms. Danvers? Mmhmm…I've got eyes agent Grimes, so you can't tell me no lies!" She chuckled.

"So we're back in high school now? ….Anyways you focus on Mr. Anthony and let me handle Michonne."

"Ms. Danvers." She corrected him. "Just make sure you "handle" her objectively, she's probably just as involved in the case as her husband."

"Boyfriend." He corrected her. "And we don't have anything substantial to link her to the thefts."

"Rick really?" She rolled her eyes at him, "You said it yourself, she's extremely guarded. So the truth is that we don't know what she knows!"

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"Well, what do you think?" Michonne asked as she glanced around at the show which was in full swing by now.

"You did a great job as usual Michonne," answered Mike, "Everything looks exquisite. I have to say that I was a bit dubious, but you were right, Noah has outdone himself."  
Mike was genuinely pleased with his partner's work. He never truly doubted her judgments if he was completely honest with himself. He knew how much the gallery meant to her. She was excellent at her job and he admired her for her dedication to their partnership.

Tonight Michonne was elegantly dressed in a silk, black and white patterned halter top, paired with a fitted black skirt and silver heels. Her hair was simply styled in a half up-do with a few loose strands that framed her heart-shaped face.  
She looked beautiful as always, but...her eyes weren't quite the same as before. They were distant and full of disappointment. For a moment he thought about maybe leaning in to give her a kiss, just to indicate his appreciation...but then, he decided against it. Instead he chose to simply raise his glass of champagne to her. She responded with a half-smile and followed suit with her own glass of liquid courage. He noticed that this was actually Michonne's third helping of alcohol as she seemed to be a complete ball of nerves tonight.

"Where is the young man anyway?" inquired Mike. As his eyes searched the gallery for his featured artist he noticed a couple who had just arrived. He had never seen them before so he was a bit perplexed as they were heading directly towards him.

"Michonne"

"Yeah Mike"

"Are those friends of yours?"

Michonne turned and peered towards the direction in which Mike was looking.  
'Shit!' she cursed inwardly 'He came.'  
Rick Grimes was walking straight towards her...her, and Mike.

"Hey, sorry I'm late" he apologised.

"...yeah" was all she could muster up to say in that moment. Rick looked even more handsome as he was decked out in a tailor made blue suit over the crispest, whitest shirt Michonne thought she had ever seen. Her eyes involuntarily drank him in completely.

'I'm gonna need another drink' Michonne thought to herself as she forcibly looked away from the stare of her "friend".

Noticing her hesitation, Rick took the initiative and stretched out his hand to Mike.

"Hi, I'm Rick Grimes."he introduced himself.

Mike looked at him confused, but shook hands with the stranger anyway. "Mike, Mike Anthony" he replied.

'Say something Michonne' she scolded herself inwardly. "Yes, Rick's an acquaintance of mine. He's here from Washington on business...I invited him tonight." she blurted out.

Just then Andrea came up from behind Rick handing him a drink she grabbed from one of the gallery girls. "Hello" she greeted everyone.

" This is Andrea Harrison" Rick introduced "She's the one I've been doing business with here in Atlanta." he added while nodding to Michonne.

"Yes, and when Rick let it slip that he was attending a private exhibition at the infamous ASZ art gallery, I insisted on being his plus one." Andrea further explained with the sweetest smile.

"That's fine", Michonne replied "It's nice to meet you. I'm..."

"...Michonne Danvers, yes I know." she answered shaking her hand. She then turned her attention to the man studiously observing her. "And you must be Mr. Mike Anthony." she stated as she took a step towards him. He looked at her inquisitively.

" Nice to meet you Ms. Harrison." he responded.

" I told my associate here that your gallery is well known."

" I hope for only good things?" Mike asked.

"Exceptional things." Andrea replied with a catty grin.

Shaking his head at his partner's antics Rick interjected, "Forgive Andrea for being so forward but she's actually very interested in diversifying her company's investment portfolio."

" Yes yes I am. Ms. Danvers..." she started turning her attention to Michonne.

But then Mike interrupted...  
"Actually, that's my area of expertise." he corrected.

"Oh! Ok!"

"Tell me Ms. Harrison..." he inquired. " Are you interested in becoming a collector as well?"

Placing a hand on her hip whilst tilting her head up to him, she responded "I might, if I see something...extraordinary."

Mike smiled and placed a hand on her left elbow to guide her, "Well let's have a look around shall we, and we can talk more about your interests."

As Mike and Andrea strolled off Rick chuckled and turned to Michonne, "Don't worry, she's harmless." he assured her.

She shook her head in response to him. "I think you're the one who should be worried. Mike is very good at his job." she said to him quite pointedly before gulping down the rest of her drink.

Suddenly it occurred to Rick that maybe Andrea was right, maybe Michonne was more involved than he initially thought.

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"Thank you for inviting me tonight. For the past few weeks I honestly haven't done much besides work, so yeah, this is nice." Rick said whilst intensely gazing at Michonne. She was, however, throwing her attention elsewhere.  
He cleared his throat and tried again," You know, the tone of Mr. Davis' pieces is rather contrasting and dramatic. I could see the appeal"

Pleasantly surprised Michonne's attention was now definitely turned to him with her eyes wide open. She cocked her head to one side inviting him to say more.

"They have an amazing range, notwithstanding their consistent intimacy of scale and clarity of composition." he continued.

A broad smile lit up her entire face. "Ok, where did you learn that?" she asked amused placing her hands on her hips.

Rick glanced around while tilting his head side to side "Well, I've picked up a few thangs, here and there. Not much though..." he lied.

"Yeah ok", Michonne then hooked his arm with hers and walked him over to a particular painting. It was black and white and depicted a ruined Victorian-styled house. "This one is my favourite." she said looking at him. She asked "Do you know why?" Giving him a few seconds to take in the work of art she continued, "...when I look at this house, I see something beautiful yet sad. Clearly the house was exquisitely designed, carefully crafted, and expertly built. All for a family to live in, create memories and call their 'home'."

Rick's gaze had turned to Michonne now as she subtly revealed a piece of herself to him, much more than she ever did during their few runs together.

"But look at it now Rick, look at what it has become."

He kept his eyes on her, and he dared not look away. Not now.

"It's crumbling. It's falling apart. With windows broken and...walls dilapidated, there's no light in there. Not anymore. It looks like death itself." Michonne's emotions swelled within her and she felt a stinging in her eyes. She swallowed hard to compose herself and rapidly blinked away the threatening tears.

Rick, noticing her pain, gently placed his hand on her arm linked with his. She looked over to him and his heart sank within him.

"Beautiful yet sad." he whispered consolingly to his friend.

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Later that night Michonne laid awake on her living room couch with the lights on. She had been waiting up for Mike, again, whilst nursing a bottle of red wine. With the sun due to rise in a couple of hours, she finally heard the lock to her condo's front door click open.

"Hey" said Mike, as he briefly glanced over to his girlfriend.

"Hey...So," she paused "you know you've only been home for one day right?" she asked.

"Yeah." he replied as he took off his jacket and rested his keys in a dish on their mahogany side table.

"Yeah so...where the hell have you been?"

"Why?" he countered as he casually took a seat next to her.

"Why what Mike?"

"Why do you care?"

When she didn't respond, he took her glass from her hand and polished off the remaining wine. "I was working, as usual." he finally explained while staring at the floor.

"I..." she started "I don't want this anymore Mike." she solemnly confessed, focusing on her hands clasped in front of her.

"What is this, Michonne?" he retorted. "Is this what we really envisioned?"

"You're never here...you haven't been here for a long time!"

"I know!" he shouted. Tears were now spilling out of Michonne's eyes.

"I want you gone!" she sobbed

"Yeah..." he responded. Mike then got up, rested the empty glass on the mahogany side table, grabbed his keys, and walked right back out of Michonne's front door.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rosita, a petite Latina, with long silky dark hair and full pretty lips, looked on with genuine concern at the strange behaviour of her best friend and boss. From the moment Michonne arrived at work that morning at precisely 9:00 a.m., everything she said and did indicated that something was off today.

For the past couple of hours she constantly complained about everything and she obsessively fretted over nothing.

" I hardly saw Noah! Where was he last night?' she implored.

"Rosita, this lighting…it's not right!" she whined.

" I can't seem to get these damn finances together!" she worried.

Rosita knew Michonne quite well, and, therefore understood that it was usually best not to prod her when she was this agitated. Instead, she tried her best to patiently comply with her demands and put up with her testy attitude.

The truth was that Rosita knew all too well that Michonne had suffered a lot over the past year, and mostly at the hands of Mike. Throughout it all though, she hardly ever let anything deter her. She was strong-willed and determined, and still the kindest and most trust-worthy person Rosita had ever known. She loved her like a sister, and so it earnestly pained her to see her in such distress.

When Michonne was finally sitting reservedly at her desk in her office, Rosita decided to use the opportunity to approach her. "So you wanna tell me what the hell is going on with you?" she asked sternly with her arms crossed over her chest. After a seemingly long pause, Michonne sighed and leaned back into chair. Looking up at Rosita she slowly answered, " I broke up with Mike. I kicked him out last night…well, this morning."

Unfolding her arms Rosita leaned forward and rested her hands on the desk. Peering down at Michonne she replied "Well, it sure took you long enough."

Michonne looked at her in surprise "I thought you liked Mike…"

"Mike is a douchebag! But you know, you loved him, and I love you, so, I kept my mouth shut. Besides, I met you when you two were already together so…" Rosita sighed then walked around to Michonne's side of the desk and took her hands within her own. "But, I am sorry anyway." She said consolingly. "You want me to make an appointment for you with Dr. Greene this afternoon?" she kindly offered.

Michonne burrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "No. No that's not necessary." She was upset but not that upset. "I just need to keep myself distracted. I'll be fine."

"Ok. How 'bout I bring you a fresh cup of tea then?" she offered not wanting to push any further.

"Thanks."

Rosita flashed a sympathetic smile before heading back to the front desk.

"Hey", someone called out to her. She looked ahead to the person coming in through the front door and instantly recognized the individual having just met him the very night before.

"Hello. Mr. Grimes right?" she greeted him curiously.

"Yeah. Is Ms. Danvers here?"he inquired. Just then Michonne came out of her office chasing after Rosita. "Sweetie I forgot to apologize for-" she stopped in her tracks and mid-sentence when her eyes fell on Rick. "Oh! Hey!" she said, definitely taken aback at seeing him again after so soon.

"Hey, sorry for showing up like this, but I, I wanted to see you." He said while tucking his hands in his front pockets. With a small grin on his face he took a moment to admire her. He couldn't help himself really.

This didn't go unnoticed by Michonne as she instantly felt self-conscious about her appearance. Her hands automatically adjusted her skirt and smoothened her blouse. She felt a bit silly but she couldn't avoid his gaze. "Umm see me? Did you need something?" she nervously asked.

Rick shifted himself to one side while nodding his head "Yeah. I wanted to take you out to lunch."

"No!" shot back Rosita who was silently observing their awkward exchange. "Today is not a good day for Ms. Danvers."

Rick raised his eyebrows to the blunt woman then looked back over to Michonne with pleading eyes. "You have to eat right?"

"Rick, she's right, I just-"

"You gonna make me beg?" he asked taking a step closer to her causing her to hold her breath.

'Ok, what the heck is going on?" thought Rosita to herself. She observed Michonne clutching the back of her neck unsure as how to respond. She noticed the obvious change in her friend's demeanor and the uncertainty in her eyes. Shaking her head she walked over to Michonne's side and spoke to her in a hushed voice. "You need a distraction? Take a half hour. I'll hold down the fort."

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Rick and Michonne sat in silence at the restaurant as they waited for their Southern Specials to arrive. They barely spoke to each other on their way over there and it was now apparent to Rick that he had to change his approach. She refused to meet his persistent gaze and it made him intrigued by her even more. "Why'd you leave so abruptly last night?" he asked finally breaking the awkward silence.

Michonne took a deep breath not really wanting to dwell on the events that took place the night before. She raised her eyes to meet his own, but quickly glanced away again. "I umm…" she started while struggling with her conflicted state of emotions. "…I just wasn't up for a long night is all." She offered.

'God, what am I doing here?' she questioned within herself. 'You know why...'

In all honesty, Michonne knew that she was most definitely attracted to this man. That's why she was there. She knew it from the moment they met. And it appeared that the more time she spent around him, the less control she seemed to have over her feelings. But Michonne was all about control!

Sitting there opposite him, her heart was beating a little too quickly to her liking, betraying her better judgement. This 'something' that was different about Rick Grimes was electrifying her senses, and today, when her mind and her heart were especially vulnerable, she somehow knew that every second with him was potentially dangerous. Every time she glanced at him she felt excited and wary both at once. 'Where is that damn food?' she cursed within herself.

Rick wasn't sure what was going on with Michonne, but he had a job to do, and he needed her to open up to him. Even more than she did last night. He perceived from what she said before that things were not great with her and Mike, and he felt he could use that to help his case. "Andrea, she said that her and Mike are supposed to have further discussions this weekend." He stated, "Are you gonna be a part of that?"

"Actually no. Like he said, that's his area of expertise. I hate bullshitting for money." she stated plainly.

Rick nodded his head in response.

"I thought you were heading back to Washington?" she asked, wanting to switch the topic.

"Yes ma'am I was, but when I called, my partners said that they didn't need me as much at the moment. They told me that I could take a mini-vacation." He shrugged his shoulders "Didn't see why not…it sounded good to me." He leaned forward on the table to pick up his glass of water. "Besides, you told me that there was a lot to see here in Atlanta…thought you wouldn't mind showing me around." He took a sip from his glass while maintaining his stare at her. He was trying to gauge her. "What do you think?"

Michonne couldn't help but chuckle. "Rick I have a job. I don't have the time to be your personal tour guide. Your associate Andrea however, would be more than willing and capable I'm sure."

"I don't think so. I know you're capable but why aren't you willing?" he challenged while resting his glass back down. "Is it Mike?"

Michonne slowly pushed back in her chair cutting her eyes at him. She tilted her head to the side wondering what game was Rick playing. 'This man has some nerve.' She thought

"Your boss, he is your boyfriend right?" Rick knew he was taking a chance but he wanted to get some sort of reaction out of her.

She didn't know him long enough but Michonne caught on, nonetheless, that he was a bit frustrated by her caginess and was trying to get a rise out of her somehow. Just then, their lunches arrived, and she realized that she had lost her opportunity to just get up and walk away from whatever this was. She took another deep breath to ease her nerves and turned her focus on her steaming food. "Mike, he's not my boyfriend." She decided to confess, might as well get it over with, she thought."…He's not anymore. And he isn't my boss, we're partners." Not daring to look back at him, she picked up her fork and started eating her food.

Rick was surprised at both her admission, and at the sudden change in her and Mike's relationship. He began to wonder at what happened but decided not to push for more information. Not obviously seemed uncomfortable and he didn't like that.

"Michonne, I'm sorry." He apologized. "I brought you out because I honestly just enjoy spending time with you. I don't want you to be uncomfortable with me. I just thought…I don't know…" he trailed off as he leaned back in his chair, trying his damnedest to manage the growing conflict within himself.

"Rick, your food is gonna get cold." She looked up at him meeting his gaze. As though she could read his mind she decided to give him a break. "You should eat, it's really good." She encouraged with a half-smile. She wanted to break the building tension, and honestly Rick had been trying for weeks now.

Rick leaned forward and did as she said. He took a bite of his meal and she was right, it was delicious!

"Mmmm…this is good." He said delighted.

A fuller smile appeared on her face as she watched him savour his food. "It's great right?"

"It's the best."

They continued to eat for awhile in silence before Michonne spoke again." Listen Rick, I can tell you're a good guy."

"I am?" he teased with a broad smile.

"You are." she replied returning a broad smile of her own.

'God she's beautiful!' Rick instantly thought as he felt his chest tighten.

"And here I'm thinking that you don't like me that much." he said sarcastically.

She rested her fork down on her plate and looked straight at him. "You know that's not true. I know you know that." She bit her lower lip in an effort to control her nerves not breaking her stare.

Rick, in that moment, felt his heart skip a beat. 'Agent Grimes, don't get carried away.' he reminded himself.

"Why are we here Rick?" she continued a little more boldly now as if she could clearly read his mind. "Just tell me what it is you want." she demanded with her voice low.

Rick swallowed hard before he responded. "I want you...to spend some time with me. Like I said I wanna see the city...so take me somewhere Michonne." His words were a bit more suggestive than he intended but it didn't seem to alarm her.

"Ok Rick. I know just the place."

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Michonne and Rick drove out to the famous Georgia Aquarium. She told him that it was one of her favourite places to visit but that she hadn't been there in a long while.

They were there for a couple of hours, enjoying both the sights and each other's company. The uneasiness they felt earlier was all but gone. They were completely taken in by the beauty that surrounded them. "I absolutely love this place" gushed Rick as they stood in front of a tank that contained a whale shark. "You know these things can get as big as 41 ft. weighing about 22 tons?" he exclaimed in amazement.

"Yes Rick it says so right there" chuckled Michonne as she pointed over to the information plaque. "It also says that they live mostly in the tropical oceans and are completely harmless."

"Oh man, you know Carl would love this..."Rick caught himself with the slip. 'Good job Agent Grimes.'

Michonne noticed him sucking in his lips and folding his arms. She could tell that he didn't mean to say what he just did. She thought about ignoring it, but, seeing as how this man took delight in minding her business, she decided that he owed her.

"Who's Carl?"

Rick winced and looked away from her wondering if he should lie. 'No not about Carl.' he decided.

"He's my son." he confessed.

"Ok, where is he?" she pushed.

Rick spun around to face her directly now.

"He's with his mother, my ex-wife, back in King's County."

"That's where you're from originally right?" she remembered him mentioning that tidbit during one of their runs when she'd enquired about his deep Southern drawl.

"Yeah."

"Tell me about him...How old is he?"

Rick hesitated, trying to gauge her. "Well, Carl...Carl's just about thirteen now, and you know he's just a typical teenage boy. He loves animals..."

"Yeah? You got him a dog yet?" she asked grinning at him.

Rick laughed, "Don't you know it. I surprised him on his fifth birthday, his whole face lit up!"

"What about comics?"

"I don't know why, but the boy is obsessed with that Batman fella." Rick smiled from ear to ear as it felt good talking about Carl. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen his boy in quite some time due to living so far away. His demanding work hours of course were to blame as well.

Michonne stared at him and noticed a flash of sadness in his eyes. She instinctively reached out and briefly held his hand. He didn't have to say anything further. She let it go.

"What about you Michonne? You have any kids of your own?" he asked even though he already knew from her files that she didn't.

"No." she replied whilst dropping her eyes low. She sighed deeply before looking back over to him. "I can't have any children Rick."

'Oh God!' He closed his eyes and shook his head at his huge error. He didn't know how to respond, he was at a loss for words." I'm sorry about that." was all he could muster up. He couldn't imagine what that must be like for her.

'Beautiful, yet sad.' he remembered her own words. He moved closer to her, wanting to hold her...he was going to hold her.

"I'm ready to go home now." she announced, stopping him before he could touch her.

"Ok."

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"So was this our first date?" Rick joked as they waited at the elevator doors in Michonne's high rise building.

"Who said anything about a date?"

"Well I paid for everythang..." he replied grinning.

Michonne couldn't help but laugh at his amusing behaviour.

On the drive back, they managed to move past the somber mood that had set in. Rick never wanted to cause her distress as he was enjoying her company. He was glad that she did not hold his blunder against him.

When the elevator doors at last parted Rick stepped in first while Michonne followed after.

"Which floor?" he asked.

"Rick you really don't have to do this. We're good." she assured him.

He knew that. Of course he knew that he didn't have to take her straight home to her door. Hell he knew he shouldn't! But what he also knew was that he didn't want to leave her...not just yet. "Which floor?" he asked again.

As she huffed, Michonne reached over herself and pushed the button for the fifteenth floor.

Silence, once again, fell between them as they stood side by side. Neither one dared to look at the other during the seemingly never-ending elevator ride. Michonne couldn't help but notice that for no apparent reason her heart was racing. 'Just stay calm Michonne.' she prodded herself as she closed her eyes momentarily. 'Just breathe. Why am I so nervous?' Don't be so nervous.'

Ding!

"Finally" she breathed as she hurried out the elevator.

"What?"

"Oh nothing." she dismissed as she grabbed her keys out of her bag. She turned left and walked two doors down. Rick walked closely behind her.

"This is you?" he asked.

"Yeah." she replied while she fumbled with the keys. "I was actually not having a great day today, so this was a welcomed ...distraction." She said as she recalled her exchange with Rosita.

"Distraction." he repeated. That's exactly what she was right now he thought. She turned away to unlock her door. "Michonne..." he called softly. She ignored him and pushed her key into the keyhole. "Michonne!" he called more firmly prompting her to let it go.

She knew what he wanted. It was what she also wanted, but now was not the right time.

Still...she turned back around to face this man.

Rick squinted his piercing eyes at her trying to will himself to walk away. He placed his hands on his hips so as not to reach out and touch her. 'Don't touch her Rick, not this woman.' 'Don't get carried away Agent Grimes.'

Despite his better judgement, however, Rick took two steps towards her and he noticed that her breath hitched. He stared at her longingly but now, she wouldn't even look up at him.

"Michonne," he whispered this time, keeping his gaze on her beautiful face. With his hands still planted on his hips he stepped right up to her now, pressing his entire body against hers, effectively pushing her back up to her door with a small thud. He would make her look up at him! And when she finally did he caught those heart shaped lips with his own and tasted her. He tasted her again, and again, and again, kissing her until he felt her body quiver against him. She then placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away slightly, breaking their contact.

"I'm not...I'm not ready for this Rick." she said breathlessly. Her eyes now locked onto his.

Before he could respond, Michonne's door suddenly and unexpectedly swung open. Standing on the other side was Mike with wide eyes.

"What the hell is this Michonne?" he roared.

'Good job agent Grimes!'


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Mike fixed his gaze on Michonne seemingly confused and somewhat hurt. "What is this?" he repeated. But before she could respond, he shifted his glare to the man who he remembered being briefly introduced to as "Rick Grimes".

"Mike wait." Michonne pleaded as he took a determined step forward. Her heart was pounding within her chest. Even though she knew that he was not a violent man, the look in his eyes, at that moment, told her not to take his current state of mind for granted.

"Is this why you broke it off?" he bellowed while pointing an accusing finger towards Rick.

"Hey now-" started Rick.

"You shut up!" Mike retorted cutting him off.

Rick's eyebrows reactively shot up. "Who do you think you're talking to?" he challenged while squinting his eyes up at the towering man. "You need to calm down." he said, also taking a step forward.

Quickly Michonne slipped behind Mike grabbing hold of his arm. She pulled him back inside the apartment in an effort to diffuse the situation.

"Why are you here? she enquired, trying to divert his attention back to her.

"Why is he here?" he shot back.

"Mike!"

"We need to talk." he answered as he finally turned towards her.

"Ok, then let's talk." Michonne looked over to Rick and nodded to assure him that she'd be fine.

"The Continental,room 630. Front desk would patch you through." instructed Rick as to how she could contact him. Before she had a chance to respond, Mike turned and slammed the door shut.

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"Something's come up..." began Mike as he took a seat on the armchair. Michonne seated herself on the coffee table right in front of him.

She sighed "What do you mean something's come up?"

"I mean I need to leave Atlanta...soon..."

Michonne shook her head, confused. "Leave? We have Davis' open exhibition coming up. Besides you just flew back in yesterday."

"I know, but..." Mike sighed and leaned back in the chair now, placing his hands behind his head. He looked anxious. He looked worried.

"But what Mike?"

"Michonne I can't say right now, but I just need to leave for somewhere for some time. Like in a couple of days."

"You're not making any sense! Stop frustrating me!" she scolded.

She was tired of this, tired of his childish ways. Anytime there's a conflict of some sort Mike never failed to shut down, and ignore the problem altogether. Over the years she would simply attribute this flaw to the fact that he grew up rich and entitled. An only child, his parents fought almost all of his battles for him. Michonne had convinced herself that because this handsome, passionate man always saw the best in her, and had consistently believed in her strength, that that would be enough to cover his shortcomings. She was wrong.

He used her strength to nurture his weakness. And it all finally came to a head just over a year ago. Their business got into serious financial difficulty and they were simultaneously expecting the birth of their first child. Truly overwhelmed, Mike proved himself to be inept when things got tough. She of course, paid the ultimate price.

Now here he was once again, ready to bolt because why? She had no clue as to what he was mixed up in.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on Mike. Let me help." And there it was. She was offering herself, her strength, to this man again! Even after everything he put her through. She no longer wanted a relationship with him, but she was willing to come to his aid if need be. That's just who she was, and always would be. Stupid? Maybe...maybe not.

"Just tell me what it is." she encouraged.

He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and taking hold of her hands. He stared into her almond-shaped eyes and shook his head.

"Come with me. Let's both pack up, we could take a flight tomorrow morning."

"Oh geez Mike, are you kidding me?" she said exasperatedly.

"I want us to start over. If you leave with me, I'll explain everything. I, I need you Michonne." he pleaded still grasping her hands.

She huffed and shook her head " I don't believe that for one second."

"Babe we belong together."

Michonne now pulled her hands away and stood up. Looking down at him with furrowed eyebrows, she tilted her head to the side " I used to think so too Mike. But not anymore. Please leave the key on the counter when you're going. Enjoy your flight."

With that Michonne took up her bag, walked straight into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

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Rick laid awake in his room mulling over how he screwed up with Michonne, and possibly the entire case. 'How am I gonna fix this?' he wondered to himself. Just then, the hotel phone rang...

"Hello", he answered.

"Hi, Rick it's me."

"Michonne?"

She chuckled "...yeah..."

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Listen I'm sorry about, you know, what happened?"

"You're sorry? God no! It's me...I took it too far, and then...I'm the one who's sorry."

Perplexed a bit by the severity of his tone, Michonne kept silent.

"You there?" Rick asked when she didn't respond.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"What happened with Mike?"

"I honestly don't know, he was acting strange."

"Strange how?"

"Something's going on, he won't tell me whatever it is. He was anxious...said he needed to leave Atlanta soon...I don't know. Like I said, something happened, but whatever. I'm done with that."

The alarms in Rick's head went off. 'Oh shit! This isn't good.'

He needed to find out exactly what was going on with Mike, and he needed Andrea to track him immediately. It was late now though...he'd have to get a jump on that first thing in the morning.

"Rick you still there?" Michonne enquired pulling him out of his trail of thought.

"Yeah sorry. When is he leaving?"

"What? I don't know, not exactly...he mentioned in a couple of days. He actually wanted me to go with him but..." she sighed "...that's not happening. Anyway Rick, I'm tired. I'm gonna go now."

"Michonne wait..." Rick's brain was going a mile a minute. He needed to know where Mike was going, when, and why. He also knew that Michonne was the key to getting all the answers, now more than ever as it seemed that their window of opportunity to wrap up this case was closing in.

"...Could you come by to see me tomorrow?" Rick closed his eyes and pinched his nose bridge as he contemplated the weight of his next decision. He was aware of the difficulty involved in what had to be done.

"Tomorrow?" she asked, "Come where? To your hotel room? I really don't think that's such a-"

"Nah Michonne, it's not like that."

"Because I meant what I said... I'm not ready, I'm just not."

A fresh wave of guilt washed over Rick. 'You screwed up Agent Grimes.' He chastised himself.

"I hear you, but, we need to talk."

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Before the sun came out the next morning, Rick was already with Andrea in room #632 discussing the possible change of events.

"So you think he got tipped off?" asked Andrea as she was getting dressed.

"That's what I'm thinking, yeah."

"But how?"

"You were on him yesterday weren't you? Where did he go? Who'd he meet?"

"I'll have to go over my notes, but I didn't see anything suspicious. I'll try to contact him about our meeting tomorrow, see what I can get."

"Ok good." Rick responded while nodding his head in support.

"The other thing is though..."he started hesitatingly. "...I'm gonna clear with Michonne. She's coming over this morning for us to...'talk'."

Andrea's jaw dropped, "You're gonna do what? No way Grimes!"

"I have to. Think about it, she could help us."

"She could SCREW us!" Andrea snapped. "Her and Mike are partners and lovers. What makes you think she won't run to him?"

"They broke up! She says that she doesn't want anything to do with him," he interjected.

Andrea sighed in disbelief as she sat on the edge of her bed. Pressing her fingers against her temples, she couldn't understand how Rick was being so stupid at that moment. "You're not thinking clearly Rick," she implored in a calmer tone. "You feel guilty...I understand."

Rick shook his head. "This will work. She'll help us." He insisted.

"No it won't!" she shot back.

"Listen to me Andrea, I know her...I'll make it work." He headed for the door to get back to his room.

"I'll call you when it's done."

Just over an hour later there was a knock at Rick's door. When he opened it, he immediately had to take a deep breath at the sight before him. In the newness of the day Michonne stood there looking just about saintly. She was casually dressed in an orange sleeveless top, and fitted jeans. Her long dreads hung loose over her bare shoulders, with a few strands from the front pulled and tied to the back.

She smiled sweetly up at him, "I brought breakfast," she announced, as she held up a white bag towards him. Rick could hardly help himself; he reached and gently held her arm pulling her towards him.

"Come in," he invited. Once inside, he closed the door behind her. 'Let her go Rick!' he charged himself, and, he reluctantly did.

"I brought bagels" she shrugged. "I was hoping that that would be ok."

"Yeah, bagels are perfect" he replied sincerely. Rick could already feel his nervousness setting in. 'Maybe Andrea's right, maybe I shouldn't do this.' He was second guessing himself. 'No, I have to do this.' He silently pulled a chair out for her, indicating that she should sit.

"Ok, so we're just gonna skip the pleasantries?" she joked.

Rick then handed her a manila folder, "Here, look at this." His heart racing as she opened it. Inside was a 8x10 photo of a middle aged man wearing an eye patch. Attached was a stack of papers of some sort.

"What's this?" she asked bewildered.

"Do you know that man? Do you know who that is?"

"Umm no. Is he a business partner of yours?" she asked genuinely.

He dropped his head and shook it while placing his hands on his hips "No." He was trying his hardest to sum up the courage to push through, as he was about to reveal information that would undoubtedly distress this woman's life. ...this woman, whom he no longer could remain objective about.

"Well, who is he Rick?" she asked as she gazed up at him. The softness in her eyes, and the richness of her voice were not helping him either.

"His name is Phillip Blake. He's a criminal notorious for art theft, fraud, and embezzlement of funds and so forth. He's been in and out of the system but, his expensive lawyers and impressive connections have kept him out of our grasp."

Michonne's brows furrowed "Our?"

Rick proceeded not wanting to pause as he would lose his nerve. "Look at the other two pictures." He instructed. As she did, her eyes widened.

"That first one is a picture of a man named Carlos Martinez, and, that second one is a picture of..."

"...Terry?" she gasped.

"Yes. Terry Andrews. Those two work for Phillip Blake. They not only steal and forge art, but they also recruit art brokers to find interested buyers for their stolen goods." With that he took back the first file and handed Michonne a second one. "Open it." She didn't.

"Who are you Rick?" she whispered, as her eyes seemed to wildly search the floor for the answer. When he didn't respond, she looked directly up at him. Her brain felt muddled as she tried hard to, not only make sense of what she was hearing, but, figure out what was happening in that moment. "Who are you?" she demanded a second time, her voice now raised."Why am I here?"

"I'm an FBI agent, Michonne." Rick conceded as he placed a hand on his chest. "I'm an investigator with the Art Crime Team division."

"What!"

"Open the file." he instructed again. When she reluctantly did, she discovered it had surveillance photos of both her, and Mike. "Last year about fifty paintings were stolen from a New York family's art collection in a fine art storage facility. So far we, Andrea and I, she's my partner, and two other teams, have recovered works from this collection in Florida, South Carolina, and even in Tokyo. We believe Phillip Blake is behind this. And, according to our sources, we believe that Mike was one of the brokers hired through Terry, his long-time buddy, to find buyers for the pieces."

Michonne, completely floored, dropped the file to the floor. She then suddenly sprang up from the chair, "You think I'm involved." She stated rather than asked. "That's why..."she closed her eyes momentarily as she was coming to fully realize the deception of it all. Mike, Rick...they were both the same ...the same piece of shit liars! 'God I'm so bloody stupid.' She admonished herself.

Rick observed the emotions that simultaneously flashed across her face, she looked confused, hurt, angry...and now, as her eyes flung open, she looked...determined.

Michone hastily grabbed her phone from her bag and started to dial.

"Wait!" Rick ordered. "Who are you calling? No, I don't think you're involved, not anymore." When she ignored him he reached out to seize her hand.

"Don't you touch me!" she screamed and Rick withdrew instantly.

"I think you can help us. Just wait, wait one minute..."he pleaded.

"Hello..." she said as she started backing away from him. "...Rosita, yeah get Ford Williams and Associates on the line now, " she continued as she made her way towards the door.

"Michonne!" Rick called again.

"Tell Sasha we're coming in right now, and meet me there ok."As she hung up, she pulled open the door ready to bolt. Rick, however, quickly advanced on her, forcibly blocking the door way.

"Michonne, where are you going? Did you hear what I said?" I need you to help me!"

"Rick get out of my way!" she demanded with a glare of contempt...no trace of the sweet smile with which she greeted him moments earlier.

As he grudgingly moved, she slid past him.

"I'm sorry." He offered.

"Don't! You need me, come see me at my lawyer's."

A/N Oh boy so much angst. Hope you guys enjoyed it...let me know if you think Rick did the right thing. I'll try to update in a few days.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Honestly, I think that this is your best option," advised Sasha Williams, one of Michonne's attorneys.

"If you agree to make a deal with those FBI pigs, then we would demand, that in return for your cooperation, you'd be kept safe…your gallery won't be lost" added her other attorney Abraham Ford.

"No lawsuits? The ASZ's reputation would be left untarnished?" Michonne asked fearfully.

"We'll try our best sweetie to keep the potential damages to a minimum." Sasha replied sympathetically. "But you know how these scandals go."

Just then Ms. Williams' secretary entered the office "They're here" she announced.

"You ready?" asked Abraham as he nodded towards Michonne.

She exhaled slowly and deeply before responding, "Yeah."

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"For your client to receive any sort of immunity we need her to get Mike Anthony talking, to give up everything concerning his involvements with Phillip Blake," said Andrea Harrison, as she and Rick Grimes, sat across the board room table from Michonne who was flanked by her assistant and her two lawyers. "Also she has to reveal any piece of information that she herself might have that's pertinent to the case."

"Like what?" enquired Ms. Williams.

"Well, for instance, any irregularities she's noticed in the finances" suggested Rick.

Michonne sat silently; contemplating how the hell she got there, what had she done that led her to sitting in that room with those investigators. She barely heard anything that was being said.

Suddenly she was nudged from the left, it was Abraham trying to get her attention. "Michonne, can you think of anything irregular or suspicious with the business finances?"

She sighed heavily and sat up straighter in her chair. "I umm don't know…." She paused for a few moments. "The only thing that comes to mind was when we got in to debt last year. Mike's a spend drift…he made it hard to keep the accounts balanced."

"But?" pushed Rick, causing Michonne to roll her eyes at him while clenching her jaws in annoyance.

Andrea noticed the iciness between the two, so she interjected. "Then what Michonne?" she asked pulling her attention away from her partner. "What happened with the accounts?"

"Then everything was settled…suddenly, we had no debt. I asked him about it, where the monies came from," she continued.

"And what did he say?"

"Said….he'd called in some favours from a friend or two."

"And you didn't suspect anything?"

"At first yes, I pushed for more information but….I didn't push hard enough. I had other personal matters to deal with at the time, and, quite frankly, I was overwhelmed." Rosita reached over and gently squeezed Michonne's hand.

"Ok, how much we're talking about?" asked Rick.

Michonne went coldly silent again.

"They were in debt of about $200,000 dollars," divulged Rosita.

Rick's eyebrows shot up, "Two hundred grand? How the hell did that happen?"

"That's not important," Sasha cut in.

"Well who's to say what's important and what's not?" replied Andrea.

Abraham then stood up, "Listen, enough, we've already decided on the deal. Michonne will assist you guys with catching Mike only if she has immunity. She doesn't lose her business, and her credibility…and that means we keep this as quiet as possible. We don't want it to be impossible for Ms. Danvers to continue operating her business after everything is said and done. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Andrea responded. "We'll get the paper work done up and delivered. Now, all we have to figure out is how exactly is Michonne going to get Mike to spill his guts after all this time?"

Rick sat forward now after mostly keeping quiet "You said last night…" he started looking straight at Michonne "…that he wanted you to go away with him, right?" She still didn't look at him, she kept focused on everyone and everything else in that room. She just couldn't stomach speaking to him at all...not yet anyway. "Well I think that's just what you can do…"

Sasha walked over to Michonne's chair and stood behind her eyeing Rick. "You mean resume her relationship with him? And go where? She's not leaving the country with Mr. Anthony!"

"No, of course not," established Rick, he had somewhere else in mind, somewhere where it would be easy to monitor them. "No, just somewhere secluded, where Andrea and I could keep as close as possible. And hopefully, it would only be for a short while."

"We'll figure out the details with your client and we'll be in touch," Andrea added.

Abraham looked over to Michonne "How do you feel about that?"

Michonne with her arms tightly folded over her chest, shook her head and sighed, "Fine." With that she pushed back her chair, stood up and headed for the door.

"Wait, where are you going now?" Andrea called out behind her, "We need to get a jump on this." Both her and Rick hurried behind Michonne. "Look the sooner we start the sooner it will be over" she beseeched. "Don't you want that? Let's get back to the hotel to start strategizing…but first, you have to call Mike before we lose him."

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Back at the hotel, after Michonne contacted Mike, Andrea and Rick briefly went over the case again with her, they then agreed on how best to proceed with their plan. They had a couple of hours before Michonne had to leave to meet up with Mike. During that time , Andrea couldn't help but notice how apathetic Michonne had become. Her demeanor confused the agent. She expected her to be angry, hesitant, distrustful….but no, Michonne was despondent, and, it seemed, that she was more hurt and disgusted than anything else. She was constantly rolling her eyes, and every so often, directing her attentions to everything besides than what was being explained to her. That would make sense, of course, given that within the past 24 hours she'd discovered that her long-time boyfriend and partner had been living a double life for a whole year. On the other hand, it was Agent Grimes who was chiefly on the receiving end of Michonne's pensive looks and incessant scoffs. 'Yeah she would be upset with him, but not this annoyed. Damn it Rick. What did you do?'Andrea thought to herself.

"Now despite how normal it looks, this is a special phone. It has a bug and a hidden microphone underneath the battery inside the phone," said Rick as he showed the device to Michonne. "Use the volume button so that you can control how loud and clear we can hear Mike according to how close or how far from the phone he is. Understood?"

"Yeah. Anything else?" Michonne curtly asked.

Rick squinted his eyes and peered at her without responding…and she stared back at him, almost daring him to ask her something….anything. But Rick held his tongue and broke eye contact first.

"Fine." Michonne then got up from the chair she was seated in, grabbed the phone from Rick's hand and headed for the door."Mike's coming over in less than an hour, so I'm gonna go." She said to Andrea.

"You good?" Andrea asked. "You can do this?"

"Sure. So just press the power button and you'll be connected right?" she asked.

"Yeah." With that Michonne left Andrea's hotel room and headed towards the elevator.

"Rick!" Andrea huffed, "I don't know what you did or what you said to her, but we need her to be 100% in this plan, which was your idea by the way."

"What do you mean Andrea?"

"I mean fix it! Get her head clear...or else!" she threatened.

Heeding his partner's serious warning, he turned and took off after Michonne. He got to her just as the elevator doors were opening. "Wait, hold on." he called out.

"Oh God! Did you forget something Agent Grimes? She asked with a completely belligerent tone.

As he stood before her he found for a moment that his mouth ran dry. He felt awful….that he knew for a fact, so he decided to start there. "I know I screwed up, and that you hate me."

"Yeah...I do…" she interrupted him.

"I never intended for...things to be this way."

"Yeah well, whatever."

"Are you sure you're good with dealing with Mike?"

"Yeah" she replied, sighing deeply, "I definitely hate Mike more than you. I hate what he's become. I hate that he's put me in this position." She dropped her eyes low.

Rick knew that she was hurting, as much as she was trying to be strong. He admired her resilience, he wanted to help her get through this. "Michonne, we need to be able to trust you….that you'll get through this."

Michonne furrowed her brows at his statement. "Trust me?" she scoffed. "Listen, Agent Grimes…" she stood straight up now, with her shoulders squared. Her deep-set eyes locked onto his distinctively blue ones. "I practiced law for awhile before, you know…but I always had an inclination for the world of art. It was even my minor in college, which, I'm sure you were already aware of with your little secret file on me." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Anyway, my parents weren't supportive of course so I pushed that aside, and became a lawyer like I was supposed to, until…"

"Until you met Mike?"

"Yeah, until I met Mike. He shared and encouraged my passion, and with the support of his father, we built our business together. The ASZ gallery is my pride and joy. I've sacrificed a lot for it. It's, it's ….God, it's all that I have!" She exclaimed while throwing her arms out to her side. A lump had caught in her throat as her emotions were starting to bubble forth. She took a deep breath in an attempt to quickly regain control of her feelings. "So yeah, trust me Rick, I'm gonna do what I have to do to protect what's mine. Whatever it takes, right? We're alike, you and I, in that way, I guess…doing whatever it takes."

"Michonne, I'm just really…" Rick started, but just then the elevator doors opened and closed a second time, causing him to pause.

"Rick, maybe I don't hate you, I'm a bit sad I'll admit, but…" she sighed heavily. "I'm mostly disappointed. In you? Sure, but mostly, in myself."

"Listen to me..."

"No, Rick, please. Honestly, I went against my better judgements that day we met...I mean, what the hell was that?" Michonne shook her head in complete disbelief as she thought about how everything was a ruse with this man from the get go.

"I was doing my job Michonne. I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"You know I don't believe a damn word out of your mouth now. What were you trying to do?...You're probably an actor or something in like an alternate universe" she said with a chuckle. " I hope you get an award for how well you do your job!"

The elevator doors opened again, for the third time, and now Michonne stepped backwards into it. But, to her surprise, Rick followed her in and cornered her, allowing the doors to close behind him. He then proceeded to press the emergency stop button.

 _'Oh God not this again._ ' she thought to herself, suddenly petrified at being alone with him. But he didn't say anything, and he didn't do anything. He just stood there, facing her, looking at her with a pained expression. "What are you doing Rick?"

"I'm not doing anything," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Except..." he continued folding his arms over his chest. "...except I'm just gonna stand here and let you have at me. Say what you have to, all of it. 'Cause you and I are gonna have to work together now. So...what else you got?"

_Smack!_

Michonne raised her hand back and struck Rick hard against his face. It turned red instantly. She was pleased and gave him a half-smile to let him know it.

"Is that it?" he challenged.

"Yeah Agent Grimes, that's it!"

"I don't think so."

She rolled her eyes in disbelief, "Are you serious? I'm done with you, let me go!"

"You sure there isn't anything else you'd like to say to me, now's your chance. It's just you, and me right now."

"Rick I don't have the time, or the energy, to indulge you. I have to go home and screw Mike till he tells me what I need to know!"

_'How you like me now Agent?'_

Rick's eyes hardened towards her and his face became taut instantly.

"What?" her voice soft now, "Wasn't that what you were gonna do with me?"

Without saying another word, he stepped all the way back away from her and released the emergency button. When the doors re-opened, he nodded towards her before turning away and walking out.

Michonne closed her eyes and placed her hands on her chest as she tried to get ahold of herself.

_'Damn it. How the hell am I gonna get through this?'_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Two steaming cups of freshly brewed Earl Grey tea rested on the coffee table in Michonne's living room. She sat on her ivory and red couch, with Mike, simply dressed for the night in a white tank top and grey sweatpants.

"I'm glad you called," confessed Mike while rubbing his hands together. He seemed nervous and hesitant, so, Michonne reached over and placed a reassuring hand on his knee.

"I'm glad you came. I wanted us to talk." She was trying her best to stay calm, even though, she was actually seething with hatred for this man, this man whom she used to love. 'No...I don't know this person next to me, not anymore.' She reminded herself. She needed to connect with this stranger though, in order for this pretence to succeed.

"Remember when..." she started, "...when I first met your Father?" she asked smiling at him.

Mike chuckled, "Yeah, how could I forget?"

"I was dancing in a bikini..."

"...in my living room..."

"...slightly tipsy..."

"No no, you were drunk..."

"I...ok, perhaps, yeah." She grinned at him.

"Yeah, and my Father decided to suddenly stop by for a visit that day. Needless to say, he could not believe that you were the same Michonne Danvers, attorney-at-law, I'd been raving about." Mike laughed as he recalled the embarrassing incident.

"I wanted to disappear into thin air." Michonne sighed.

"You still won him over though, you're good like that." Mike then hooked Michonne's hand that was resting on his knee, by her thumb, with his index finger. With pursed lips, she breathed deeply, fighting the urge to snatch her hand away.

"That's when things were easy." He said while gazing down at her.

"I know. The beginning usually is." She took another deep breath and shifted in her seat to fully face him. "Mike, I'm sorry about...you know, the last time." He shrugged his shoulders without responding. "I thought about everything you said. I especially thought about, your offer...to start over." She was being as cautious as possible, not wanting him to become suspicious in the least.

"Well maybe I was being too audacious...delusional even."

"Maybe, maybe not." Michonne looked down at their hands and purposefully intertwined her slender fingers with his. "If it's still possible, I'd like to spend some time away, with you, like you wanted" she whispered whilst keeping her gaze low.

"Why?" he asked with his brows furrowed. Michonne's heartbeat raced a little then, as she wasn't sure how to answer that question convincingly. Every fibre of her body was screaming for her to run away as far as possible from him...but that would not solve her problems. After a considerable pause, she finally looked up at him, as compassionately as she could, and responded, "Because, Mike, I was wrong...Despite everything, I still need you, and you need me too...Don't you?"

"Yeah baby I do," he replied softly, nodding his head in agreement.

Lowering his head, Mike leaned in to kiss her. Instinctively, she pulled back.

'Shit.'

"I, I want us to go slow," she quickly said explaining her sudden withdrawal. "I want us, to trust each other again. You said before that 'something's' going on with you, then let's go and figure it out together, in all honesty."

"Ok...I never took you to the Bahamas." He suggested with a grin.

"The Bahamas?" she flashed a broad smile at him with her head tilted, "That sounds like a honeymoon! I want us to talk Mike."

He looked puzzled. "Just talk?"

"We need to reconnect, so much has happened...I umm, I actually know of a place that's a ways from here, but, not too far...in case of an emergency with the ASZ we would be available. It's a bit of a drive but...it's quiet, it's secluded... No one would know we're there."

Mike looked at her contemplatively. He really wanted to get far away, but, Michonne wanted to be with him, and he knew that he owed her because he'd let so much happen. He was willing to compromise. "You say this place is secluded?"

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"A quiet hidden town...King's County..."

"Never heard of it..."

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"That was good" commented Andrea as she and Rick took off their headphones when Michonne disconnected from them. "She's smart."

"She is…she's also determined." Rick sincerely replied.

"That's good, which means, that this plan of yours might work."

"It has to." He guaranteed as he packed up his equipment and started towards the door.

"Yeah, it has to" she repeated. "This is possibly our last chance to make this right. You gonna turn in?"

"Yeah…it's been a crazy day." Rick rubbed his hands over his face feeling mentally exhausted by the events of the past twenty-four hours.

"Uh huh, tell me about it. Hey, don't forget to text her the directions for tomorrow."

"I will, thanks." He responded as he left and returned to his own room.

While settling in for the night, Rick thought about how impressively cool Michonne was with Mike. Despite the turmoil that was probably brewing within her, she knew how to handle him well. Hopefully, that meant that she would be successful sooner rather than later.

As he sat on the edge of his bed, Rick took out his cell phone and proceeded to text her the route and the address she'd need for the trip tomorrow.

"Got it." She texted back.

Rick fiddled with his phone for another minute.

"You did good….thank you."

He got no response…

"You alone?"

After about another minute...

"Yes Agent Grimes….not that that's any of your business!"

He knew that it wasn't, but he couldn't help himself. Truthfully it would've been on his mind for the entire night.

"Where is he?"

"Seriously? 8-l"

"Sorry….you okay though?"

"….what do you think?... I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, ok, tomorrow...Delete these messages…."

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During their two-hour drive to the tiny hometown of Agent Rick Grimes, Michonne listened, on and off, to Mike reminisce about their earlier days together. It was exhausting, this battle within her soul. She was embittered by the deception of her partner, but, she had to pretend that she was a willing participant in this ploy of reconciliation.

Funny enough, the only thing that kept her from running the car off the road was knowing that someone was trying to help her salvage something from this tragedy that was now her life. Yes he had his own agenda, but it seemed that Rick was attempting to show genuine concern for her. She thought about him a lot the night before, too much actually, and she wondered how long she could endure these conflicts of emotions for both him and Mike.

But, she had to be tough, even though at times it was hard to remember why and for what. After her accident, Dr. Greene once called her a 'survivor'… however, she wasn't sure how true that was. Yes she was walking, and talking, and working, but, did all of that equate to living? This drive was too long, gave her too much time with her thoughts. The turmoil inside her for the past year was slowly dragging her spirit down, it wouldn't let go, let her have peace. That's why she couldn't lose the gallery, she wouldn't! She needed it, it kept her sane, it kept her from wallowing in her losses.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Michonne was delighted to find that their hideaway was a quaint traditional-styled home which was nestled in a remote wooded area. Feeling depleted, she searched out the first bed she could find as soon as she entered the house. Mike followed behind with their bags, and then went exploring the confines of the area. She was so spent that she did not even know when she dozed off.

About an hour later, she was awakened by the constant buzzing of her phone in her coat pocket. She pulled it out and squinted through her temporary blurred vision to read the messages: You have '5 missed calls' & '3 new voicemails.' They were all from Rick...'Goddamn spy' she chuckled to herself.

As she turned to get up, to her surprise Mike was there asleep beside her. She hadn't heard him come in. 'This is my chance.' She quietly slid off the bed and hurried down the stairs. She wrote a note about going into town for supplies and left it on the kitchen counter. She then grabbed her car keys and headed out the door.

Not too far away from her little refuge, she found the place where the FBI agents were staying. It was a massive ranch just one mile east from where she was situated. To the front of the fence there was a sign that read 'Dixon Acreage Farm'. Rick spotted her when she arrived and came out to the end of the driveway to meet her. Michonne noticed that he was dressed down in a blue denim shirt and dark coloured jeans.

"What the hell happened to your phone?"

"Glad to see you too Agent." She waltzed pass him taking in the beautiful landscape. "It's absolutely gorgeous here."

"Michonne, you got set up okay? Where the hell is Mike?"

She took a deep breath and started strolling across the greenery, "Rick, is this place yours?" purposefully ignoring his inquiries.

"Is that a stable?" she asked as she finally came to a stop.

She was instantly enamored with the breath taking ranch and the serenity it offered. Rick stepped up beside her, but before he could say anything else she cut him off. "Could you just…let me have a minute, please?" She wished that she was there under different circumstances, to be able to enjoy fully the exquisite surroundings.

"This place, it belongs to an old friend of mine, him and his wife."

"Any kids?"

"Yeah, Sophia, she's about Carl's age, and Sarah who just turned three I think."

Michonne turned from staring out at the farm and looked at Rick completely bewildered. "Carl's real?"

Rick cocked his head to the side in disbelief "I'm not a complete bastard."

She still stared at him confused.

"A lot of it was real Michonne." He breathed as his eyes pleaded with her to believe him. Instead, she shook her head trying not to give a second thought to what Rick was implying. She then wrapped her arms around herself and turned, heading back to her car.

"I need you to tell me how to get into town, I need to get food." She called back.

Rick didn't follow behind her. "No, I can't have that." He shouted causing her to stop and spin around.

"What?" With her head tilted and her hands now resting on her hips, Michonne looked at him like he just hurled curses at her.

"Where's Mike?"

"He's asleep."

"Ok….let's go then…" Rick walked up to her with an open hand indicating that he wanted to drive. She could tell by the look on his face that there would be no point in arguing, so she relented.

"You know I drove out here, right?"

"I know."

When they got into her car and back on to the road, Rick gave Andrea a call to inform her about their quick outing.

On their way up into town, very little was said between the two. Other than finding out that the old house she was staying in belonged to Rick's brother who'd moved away, Michonne kept to herself, her body almost fully turned towards her door. She didn't want another confrontation with him and she'd hoped he'd just let her be, which,thankfully he did. Every now and then though, he peppered the silence with reminders of what to do and what not to do to ensure their plan worked out.

It irked Rick that she barely glanced at him, but he was giving her time. 'Time for what?' he wondered. 'To forgive me? Then what? We'd be friends again? But she never really was a friend, was she? She was the job.' He let out a deep breath as he mulled over the messy situation he created. If only he wasn't so drawn to her. If only he had exercised more self-control.

Soon, he was driving down Main Street. After passing some charming shops he pulled aside and parked. "Ok, right across there is the grocer" he directed her.

"The grocer? Like just the one?"

"Do you know what 'small town' means? C'mon."

Michonne frowned her face while she got out of the car and followed him into the store. She grabbed a basket at the entrance and started perusing the aisles.

"So I guess you grew up with the 'grocer' huh ….Went to his wedding, had family barbecues together….real small town living?" she teased while bagging some tomatoes.

"As a matter of fact, Bobby and I did grow up together, but he never did get married….at least not before I left for the bureau. He never had any luck with the ladies in high school." He reminisced.

"What, you didn't keep in touch with good ole Robert? You two had a falling out?" Michonne pouted as she feigned interest.

Rick chuckled "No, no we didn't. We weren't that close."

"Oh yeah, who were you close with then?" she asked as she continued to bag other fruits and vegetables.

He looked at her puzzled, "Do you really care?"

"Do you really prefer to stalk me in awkward silence?" she responded sarcastically as she widened her eyes at him. "Is there a cheese section in here?"

"Of course, let's check that way….You love cheese?"

"Umm yeah," she exhaled deeply "but it's more for Mike than me." She curled her upper lip.

When he found the dairy section he picked up two blocks of both Cheddar and Mozzarella cheese.

"Which one's his favourite?"

Michonne winced at him "Taleggio?"

"Say what?"

Michonne burst out laughing at Rick's expression. She tried to cover her mouth so as not to draw attention but it was too late, inquisitive eyes were already leering at her. Amused, Rick broadly smiled at her "Ms. Danvers I'm a Monterey jack kind of guy myself...so pardon me..."

"Yeah yeah, just stop." she chortled as she took both cheeses from him and dropped them in her basket. "This'll do I guess. Ok, now I need a bottle of red wine..."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"Don't start Rick!" She followed him to the liquor section and quickly combed through the wine selection till she picked a simple merlot.

Rick studied every movement she made, taken by her simplest gesture. He'd keep her to himself for the rest of the day if he could...under different circumstances of course.

After the goods were paid for, they walked back to her car.

"Hey you were telling me in there about your people."

"My people?"

"Those you're close to here in King's County?"

Rick paused before he started the ignition, "Well...there's Daryl and Carol who own the ranch, a guy named Morgan who saved my life a long time ago,...and Lori my ex-wife and of course Carl...that's about it."

"You and your ex-wife are close? Well aren't you special?"

"Yeah well, as close as two exes could be I guess...besides, she's the mother of my child." Rick put the gear into drive and continued down Main Street. Not long after, however, he suddenly stopped and pulled aside again. "Could you wait for a little bit?" Before she could respond, he jumped out the car and disappeared into a Sporting Goods store. Within a few minutes, he returned to the car and handed her a bag.

"What, you went to check on 'Jimmy' the quarterback?" she joked.

"That's for you...there's a lot of space down by that old house you could use."

Michonne squinted at him suspiciously, "Rick what is this?" she whispered.

"It's a peace offering." He held his breath knowing that he was taking a chance.

She hesitatingly reached into the bag and pulled out a pair of running shoes...in her size. 'No he didn't!' She immediately shoved them back into the bag and threw them to the backseat. "Just drive me back Rick!"

"What?" he responded exasperatedly.

She had instantly grew irritated with him again, so much so that she reverted back to the good ole 'silent treatment'.

Rick, however, had had enough of that.

He waited till they were half-way back to then pull over on the deserted road. "Get out of the car!" he demanded as he jumped out before she could protest. When she remained seated with her eyes fixed ahead of her, he marched to her side and pulled her door open. Leaning down he glared at her "Michonne, how could we go from one extreme to the next in the blink of an eye? What is your problem now? Tell me!" Michonne faced him and gave him a knowing look but still didn't move. Nodding his head he huffed as he walked away to the front of the car settling on the hood where he simply waited for her.

Michonne felt that she had every reason to be upset about the gift, and suspected that he already knew why. So with a scowl on her face, she took a deep breath, unbuckled her seat-belt, and finally got out of the car. She approached him as calmly as possible and stood facing his side. "Rick?"

With his arms across his chest he lowered his head and exhaled deeply. "Maybe...the shoes weren't the best idea..." he raised his head and looked over at her thoughtfully whilst sucking in his bottom lip.

"Why?"

He sighed "Because that's how we met-"

"We met?" she shot back. "You used something that mattered to me to trick me Rick! To befriend me so that you could bloody spy on me!"

"I know" he admitted while momentarily closing his eyes. " I was doing-"

"Your job, yes, you've said that before."

"But Michonne that ain't all of it...you must know that right?...Stop pretending and just ask me." He gazed at her face searching for a way to get her to talk to him, and not pull away and get silent again.

She shuffled her feet as she glanced around trying to find the courage to really confront this man, to embrace her resentfulness towards him, to stop pretending that she was so 'tough'.

She sighed as she struggled to find the right words. "I...told you things Rick, about myself...and I feel like ..." She shook her head as she dropped her eyes low not wanting to get overemotional. "Did you see something, in me, that you felt you could take advantage of...for your job?"

"No!" he protested. "That ain't how it was Michonne."

"It wasn't?"

"No...look at me, please."

She fixed her gaze on his while holding her breath, suddenly fearful of what he was going to say.

"I, couldn't help myself Michonne." he confessed solemnly while running his hand through his curly hair. " I tried...I didn't want to get caught up...lose my way...but then..." he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as he wanted to be as honest as possible.

"But then what?"

"But then the opportunity came and I willingly crossed that line. I just couldn't resist. It was hard, I mean every time I saw you it was hard. I was intrigued from the moment we meant...I felt..."

"Something?" she offered softly.

"Yeah...something." he repeated as he looked at her a little sideways.

After a bit of silence from them both, Michonne conceded "Me too."

Rick's eyebrows shot up, and his heart started beating uncontrollably fast. They stared at each other without saying another word, just the two of them on the lonely open road.

Rick then stood up from the hood of the car and held out his hand to her. "Come here."

With her feelings burning inside her Michonne wanted to play with fire, and so she slowly extended her hand as well.

As soon as their fingers met, Rick didn't hesitate. He swiftly pulled her up against him, sliding his hungry arms around her tiny waist as she clutched him by the collar of his denim shirt to steady herself. "Rick..." her voice shaky as she whispered to him. Through her lashes she looked up at him, and the feel of his hot breath against her face set her entire body ablaze. She wanted what he wanted. She was ready.

Rick lowered his head, and unlike the last time, he gently pressed his mouth against her soft, full lips, longing to reacquaint himself with her sweetness, and savoring it.

Michonne closed her eyes and decidedly deepened the caress of their lips, brushing her tongue lightly against his causing them both to lose themselves completely. She now feverishly ran her hands up his neck kneading his flesh, while devouring the wetness of his mouth as he gripped her hips hard against his. After spending a few more moments entangled with each other, Michonne pulled away. Breathing heavily, she pressed a hand against her chest in an effort to recompose herself.

"Wait... What now?" she breathed, stepping out of his grasp.

"Now, we finish this case."

"Then what?"

"Then we take a chance to make a new start."

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	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Listen man just stay calm, keep cool Terry…just a couple of more days till this dies down, just be careful…then we could go back to the regularly scheduled program…Ok? Yeah man stay in touch." Trying her best not to interrupt Mike's suspicious phone call, Michonne stood as quietly as possible at the front door, also wanting to hear as much details as she could. When it sounded as though he finally hung up she then slammed in the door making her presence known.

"Hey Mike….I'm back." She called out.

"Yeah, I'm in here, in the living room."

She coolly walked straight into the kitchen and immediately started unpacking her groceries, acting as though she wasn't just eavesdropping on his obviously secret conversation.

"Hey" he greeted her as he came in and sat by the kitchen table. "How come you didn't wake me? I would've liked to come see the town with you."

'Not with me and Agent Grimes you wouldn't.' she thought to herself.

She shrugged her shoulders "Didn't want to disturb you. You up long?"

"About thirty minutes…"

"You hungry?"

"….You got anything good?" Mike got up and walked over to the counter to inspect the bags' contents. "Oh! Okay…" he grinned as he discovered the bottle of wine. "So does this mean we're gonna have some fun later?"

"Maybe, I was thinking, after we eat, we could play some 'Truth or Truth'…" she said with a small chuckle, then she looked at him meaningfully, and directly in his eyes to gauge his response. "….Just to get the ball rolling. We're here for a reason right?"

Mike took a deep breath as he stepped over to her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Yeah….to start over." He held onto her upper arms and gently squeezed them as he gazed into her eyes.

Then unexpectedly, she felt a tinge of guilt shoot through her chest as she recognized a bit of hopefulness flash across his brown eyes. 'No Michonne, this is how it has to be.' She reminded herself, and just as quickly, she dismissed any notion of wrongdoing from her mind. She needed to get him to trust her enough to reveal his secrets….by any means necessary, and a comfortable evening at a hideaway was as good a place to start as any. Mike was way past due in paying for his sins, especially those against her.

She inhaled deeply, 'I can do this.' "I'm gonna put together something quick for us to eat. I'll let you know when I'm done."

"Sure, there's some Dvds I spotted so I'll go check them out." He replied as he walked back to the living room.

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In the study room of the Dixon farm house, Agent Harrison paced the medium tone hardwood floors excitedly, as she was in the middle of relaying her recent phone calls with the other two teams attached to the same Phillip Blake case. However, she soon realized, that her partner's thoughts were obviously somewhere else. "Rick….Rick!" she was standing directly in front of him now trying to get his attention. "Why aren't you listening to me?"

Rick shook his head, pulling his mind back to the present. He was sitting there indulging in the recollection of his less than professional conduct with his CI just half hour ago. "Yeah, I'm sorry…what was that last part?" he asked, breaking free from his reverie.

"I said, it seems as though Phillip is causing a disturbance within his own crew, so, maybe, Mike's wanting to get away could possibly have nothing to do with us trailing him, Thank God!"

"So our cover is still firmly in tact? What did he say to you during your last phone call?"

"Nothing much, just that he'd be unavailable for awhile."

"So where does that leave us with Michonne?"

"Well, it could mean that she has a bit more time that she could use to put him at ease, extract as much truth as she can."

"More time? Nah…. She won't be comfortable with that."

'I sure as hell won't be comfortable with that.' Rick knew that his behavior earlier was definitely unacceptable, and could've possibly compromised the case somehow. On the other hand, 'Screw it,' he thought to himself. Michonne was intense, beautiful….sweet and kind…strong and smart…she was special. He had no doubt about that when he held her in his embrace, consumed by feelings that both terrified and exhilarated him. For now all he had to do was to keep his emotions under control, and to stay focused, he'll figure out the rest afterwards….he had to.

He shook his head and curled his upper lip, "Carrying on this ruse any longer than she has to?"

"You're right…" Andrea conceded. "All things considered, this is probably hard on her already. Ok, so what do we do?"

Rick now stood up from behind the built-in desk, contemplating the best way to proceed; he raised his eyebrows and rubbed his forehead "Well, we don't know for certain just what is going on, but we do know that Mike is on edge…. So we stick to the plan. Anything she can get from him we'll use to prosecute him, and get to Blake, and recover those damn paintings."

Just then, someone knocked on the door. A pleasant face woman with cropped hair poked her head in. "Hey Sunshine."

"Carol, hey." Rick responded with a broad smile.

"You folks joining us for some casserole? Daryl left to pick up the girls, he should be back within an hour."

"Umm that sounds lovely." Andrea replied sweetly. "Just let us know when you're ready."

"Yeah it has definitely been awhile since we've had a home cooked meal," added Rick.

Carol was pleased to have her old friend visiting at her home, even if it was purely due to work. "Good…Rick I wanted to see you before you got too busy."

"Ok…Andrea, I'll be back." Rick followed Carol as she led him outside to the wide and spacious porch.

"So you and Daryl seem to be doing fine?" he asked rather than stated as he bent over and rested his elbows on the railing, looking out over the ranch. Carol stood next to him facing the house.

"Well, we're doing pretty good. We miss having you around though."

"Yeah…" he answered as he just nodded his head.

"You know who else misses having you around?"

Rick tilted his head to look up at her for a bit then stood up straight.

"Sophia and Carl talk quite a bit…you think you'll have time to see him before this is over?"

Rick sighed deeply as he began rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger. "I don't know…you know it's not that simple."

"I don't give a shit Rick. You've lost Lori, get over it... But not Carl…that woman is not worth your relationship with your son. Understood?" she asked as she shot a fierce look his way.

"I hear you." Rick pinched his nose bridge in frustration. Of course he missed his son, but dealing with his ex-wife and her new husband, who happened to be his ex-best friend, always managed to send him over the edge, and in the worst kind of way in a matter of seconds. He knew Carol was right though, Carl needed him, he needed his father. Rick had to figure out how to make this right for him. He was well aware that he had no valid excuse for not being there for him.

"Hey Grimes…" Andrea shouted from inside the house. "Sounds like we're connected."

Rick rushed pass Carol and headed back to the study where they were allowed to set up. "What's going on?" he asked as he sat down and quickly grabbed up his headphones.

"Nothing yet…seems like they're having dinner."

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Michonne and Mike sat at the round, wooden kitchen table and shared a simple meal together, with which he seemed pleased. Even the wine was to his liking. Looking at her cool demeanor, one would not have been able to tell that Michonne was a nervous wreck. She tried to pace herself with the Merlot but she was already finishing up her second glass. 'Easy girl, you're going to get through this.'

"So who's going to start, you or me?" she inquired, wanting to get the conversation going.

"Ladies first" he retorted with a toothy grin.

"Fine" she sighed. "Okay….truth or truth… what do you honestly think of this place?" she questioned as she glanced around the house from ceiling to floor.

"Honestly…it has personality, needs a lot of work, but, I kinda like it."

She squinted her eyes at him, "…ok, I believe you." She reached across and poured more wine into his glass. A throaty laugh rumbled out of him as he watched her movements amusedly.

"Alright, my turn…"he placed his hands over each other into a fist as they rested against his lips, while he contemplated what to ask her.

"Anytime soon please." Michonne heckled as she quickly glanced over to the special-issued phone that was covertly nestled between the flour and sugar containers on the kitchen counter.

"Wait, I want to make it a good one…ok, I got it…do you regret leaving your law practice and getting into business with me?"

'Wow, I thought I was going to be the one to jump into the heavy stuff first.'

Astonished, she sat back in her chair crossing her arms over her chest. Leaning her head to the side she stared at him for a minute before answering, "No Mike, I don't regret it, because I love it."

"...But...you don't love me, do you?... Not anymore?"

"What?"

With her eyes widened she was surprised and confused. Was the gig up? Did he figure out that she was there with him under a pretense? Was he pretending all the while too? Whatever was the cause of this seriousness in his attitude, she couldn't allow it to make her panic.

"Mike….we've been through a lot together. I can't just dismiss that….Can you?"

"Is that you're way of saying no?" When she didn't respond, he swilled the newly filled drink before him. He then stood up from his seat and she followed suit, taking up the dishes as well. She tried to distract herself a bit in an effort to maintain control over her feelings.

As she silently walked over to the sink, Mike followed her but then leaned back onto the counter, just in front of Michonne's secret hiding spot. She tried her best not to focus on the listening device as she quickly washed the plates and dried up her hands. With his gaze intensely on her, and everything she was doing, he now leaned forward and reached out to touch her face. He wanted her attention on him. "Listen to me baby. You know you're still so beautiful to me ….even with all that disappointment swimming around in those big gorgeous eyes." His thumb was now stroking her cheek. Then, with his other hand he guided her towards him. "…and I'm sorry," he whispered.

She dropped her head low, "Mike….truth or truth? Are you sorry, because, you've been lying to me?" She now returned her eyes to meet his. 'Easy Michonne don't push just yet.' She coached herself. Mike then released her and took a step back. Not saying a word, he simply nodded his head and dragged his hands over the top of his head. "Yeah?" she asked. "About…being with other women?" She was testing the waters.

Embarrassed, his eyes darted all over the room now. "There were a couple of times…" he earnestly admitted.

"In Atlanta?"

"While I was away…"

"Is that why you travelled so much? You were with…someone else?"

"Like an affair? No, no Michonne, I was away to do business."

She narrowed her eyes at him wanting to push him further, but the mood was already way more intense than she'd planned. She walked back over to the table and refilled her glass with wine then turned and handed him the bottle. She gave him a tight lipped smile as he drank straight from it. "Well look at you Mr. Fancy pants," she dryly teased.

He chuckled lightly, "…It is good quality, I'm surprised that they have this out here in 'the sticks'."

"Yeah, me too."

They both said nothing more, choosing to drink in silence, mulling over their glum discussion.

"Look, I'm sorry, I thought we'd have more laughs…it's only our first night here." She apologized breaking the stillness in the room.

"I believe…I'm the one who jumped ahead." He offered as he took another swig.

"Easy there Mike."

"What? I'm a big man…"

"Oh please." She stepped towards to him to take the bottle away but he simply raised it over her head, keeping it out of her reach.

"The rest is mine now…" he said as he sluggishly laughed, the alcohol clearly taking its toll.

She stood watching him with her free hand on her waist. "Well tomorrow, I'll get-"

In an instant, Mike covered her mouth with his own. Caught off guard she froze, for a second, but then, she closed her eyes, and leaned in to him, returning the kiss slowly and gently.

"Mmm…you taste so good." He complimented as he paused before capturing her lips again. Michonne's mind quickly transported her back to the open lonely road where she earlier shared a heated encounter with a certain handsome agent. Involuntarily, a moan escaped her lips, effectively snapping her back to the present. She pulled away from Mike and her eyes quickly darted to the damn phone hidden right behind him.

"I want to take you upstairs now!" he demanded with a gaze that was a mixture of both lust and tipsiness.

She placed a hand on her forehead as she seriously contemplated how best to manoeuvre the situation to her advantage. She also thought about how her decision would affect the recent developments between her and Rick. What was more important though? Her feelings for Agent Grimes, or exposing Mike's fraudulent activities? Why exactly was she there in King's County?

"Ok….let's go." She said.

At first Mike was taken aback by her willingness, then again, he didn't want to question it. He hadn't been with her in so long. He took her by the hand and led her to the stairway.

As they were ascending the steps, Michonne heard a faint, but distinct noise. She stopped and looked back into the kitchen momentarily….'buzz, buzz'…there it was again.

"What's the matter?" Mike asked as he furrowed his brows at her.

"Umm," she swallowed hard, "you go ahead, let me…lock up for the night." 'That was weak Michonne.'

But Mike in his inebriated state just shrugged and continued without her "Don't be too long."

'Buzz, buzz' ..."I won't." As soon as he was out of her sight, Michonne quickly fetched her handbag that hung on one of the chairs around the kitchen table. 'Buzz, buzz' she reached in the pocket and pulled out her phone. She looked at the unknown number and knew that it had to be Rick. She took a deep breath before she answered. "Hello…"she whispered. But, she heard nothing on the other end. "Speak!" she commanded as she rolled her eyes.

"Dis-connect now!" Rick instructed in a guttural voice.

She glanced back up the stairs to make sure that Mike wasn't coming back to check on her, when she saw that he wasn't, she dashed to her hiding spot to retrieve the device and switch it off.

"It's off."

"I think you've done enough for the night….don't you Ms. Danvers?" Rick chastised her in a steely and harsh tone.

"Rick, I'm doing what I have to. Just what did you expect when you asked me to resume this relationship? You need to just trust me!"

"Michonne-"

She hung up. 'This man is unbelievable.' She thought as she shook her head. She took another deep breath, turned off the lights and headed up the stairs to meet Mike.

000

A couple of hours later Michonne was jolted from her sleep. On the dresser, just across from the bed, her phone was once again vibrating constantly. She eased herself off the sheets so as not to wake Mike. Picking up the phone she noticed that she'd gotten a message alert.

"Come outside."

'What?' she thought completely baffled. "Who is this?" she texted back.

"You know who."

The number was unknown, like before, and as of late that usually meant it was one person in particular….Rick. But this didn't make any sense to her. Why would he be here?... At night….in such proximity to Mike? She took a chance and pulled on her robe. "I'm coming." she replied.

A minute later she opened the front door and, sure enough, there was Agent Grimes, in the dead of night standing in front of her, in a tiny, dusty patio. Her eyes were wide with disbelief as she stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

"What-the-hell are you doing Rick?" she tried her best to keep her voice down.

Squinting his eyes, he clenched his jaws while slightly shaking his head at her. He didn't even bother to answer her; he just stood there glowering at her disapprovingly.

"Don't look at me like that."

Rick still said nothing …His piercing eyes, even in the darkness, bored straight through her. Feeling unnerved and not wanting to engage in battle with him, Michonne took a deep breath and turned to go back inside.

"I thought you were smarter than this!" he spat at her back.

She stopped instantly and spun around. "Smarter than what?" she challenged as she looked daggers at him.

He reached out to pull her towards him but she flinched back. "Answer me Rick."

"Did you….and him…"

"Would you just spit it out?"

"Did you sleep with him Michonne?"

She sighed heavily as she momentarily closed her eyes. "Listen to me Rick, I understand, I do, but just because you've shoved your tongue down my throat doesn't mean you can behave this way towards to me."

"Excuse me?" Rick scrunched up his forehead with one eyebrow raised.

She placed her fingertips at her temples as she felt the beginnings of a headache coming on. "Does Andrea even know you're here? You do know you're being stupid right?"

"I'm being stupid?"

"Yes! Because you're angry...but you seem to have forgotten that you asked me to do this!"

"Not this." He gestured upstairs as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"I told you before that you could trust me to get through this…so please do that. Just trust me."

With that, a disappointed Michonne went back inside, leaving a conflicted Rick outside, alone and in the dark, in a tiny dusty patio.

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Late next morning, Michonne sat in the living room by herself sipping on a hot mug of tea. She was enjoying the quietness around her, pretending that she really was on a secret getaway in the middle of the world somewhere. She closed her eyes envisioning herself on the deck of some beach house overlooking pristine turquoise lagoons in a locale that offered a stunning backdrop like perhaps Tahiti. With the sun bathing her in its warmth and soothing all her troubles away, it would've been the vacation she felt she truly deserved.

"Good Morning", Mike greeted her with a gravelly voice, causing her eyes to flutter open. Just as he leaned over to kiss her on her forehead, she moved some of her things that rested beside her closer, to give him room to plop down on the couch.

"Morning sleepyhead."

"I'm so sorry about last night..." he apologized as he cradled his head in his hands while leaning all the way back. "I don't know what happened."

"What happened was that you forgot just how much of a lightweight you really are." she mocked him. "By the time I got out of the shower, you were out cold." she grinned at him.

He looked over at her sideways "Baby I promise to make it up to you, I promise."

"Sure...but, first, while you were slumbering this morning..." she reached over and picked up one of the items next to her, "...this was ringing, like non-stop." She showed him his phone.

Mike sat up straight dumbfounded, "Did you answer it?"

"What, I wasn't supposed to? Imagine my surprise to find it was Terry Andrews on the line! Terry Andrews who almost got you kicked out of college, who's been in and out of jail countless of times." she tilted her head at him. "Well I see you're not surprised at all. Why is that drugged up, low life calling you Mike? ... Actually, how the hell does he even have your number?"

Mike stared at her silently with his brows raised and eyes wide open, looking almost too afraid to speak.

"Truth or truth? How long have you been in contact with him?... Are you going to say anything?"

"I don't know what-" he mumbled.

"No! No more bullshit! Tell me what exactly is going on."

Mike swallowed hard "...Okay, but...did he leave a message?"

Michonne stood up from her seat now hovering over him. "Yeah...he said 'RUN!'"

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Andrea held her headphones as tightly as possible against her ears not wanting to miss a single word. "Are you hearing this?" she asked Rick who stood next to her. He too had his headphones on. "I think we might be getting something today...I know I said it before Rick, but she is damn smart, hell brilliant even."

"Yeah."

"Yeah? That's all you have to say? Wait, did you put her up to this?"

"Nah...this, this is all her."

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	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Fear and Love…Love and Fear: To validate his misdeeds, Mike confessed that he was motivated by those two basic human frailties. He loved what they had accomplished together with the gallery, he adored her and the life they shared with one another, and he cherished the legacy he inherited from his mother and father. When he felt that everything was about to slip away due to his own failings, he feared what his life would be like if he didn't take drastic measures.

"Did you contact Terry first, or was it him who found you?" Michonne asked as she steeled her jaw.

"He got in touch with me first, about two years ago, said he needed me for something big. But I turned him down…"

"Then?"

"Then, when our debt was getting out of control, I felt compelled to do what needed to be done."

"What needed to be done?" Michonne scoffed as she could not believe what she just heard. "Getting yourself caught up in fraudulent activities was what was needed to be done?" she interrogated him fiercely.

"Babe it was just one job," he justified.

"Are you hearing yourself?" As she felt herself enveloped by the infuriating conversation, all of her emotions had just about runneth over. Anger, disappointment, sadness, hate…she was consumed. "Michael Anthony…that 'one job' has ruined everything you were so fearful of losing…. Don't you see that?" her voice wobbly now.

Mike lowered his head and covered his face with both his hands "No, no….the ASZ is thriving, I've secured enough money to keep us afloat for years to come…"

" I haven't seen that money."  
"Don't worry I have it-"  
"Mike no!...You're not going to get away with this."

"What? You're gonna …turn me in? After everything we've been through?"

"We've been through?...No Mike, what I've been through."

With tears now spilling out of her eyes, Michonne wrapped her arms around her mid-section. "I lost him Mike, I lost him! I was working so hard, I was doing everything that I could to keep the gallery's doors open, to keep it functioning without missing a beat. You weren't there, were you? I was doing it on my own." Her whole body now began to tremble "When I got into the accident….and the baby didn't make it…you left again! Was it because of the guy Terry had you working for?"

"Yes." Mike whispered his voice thick with regret.

"Why? For three days I was in the hospital, where the hell were you Mike?"

"He's not an easy man to say no to Michonne….I knew you had Rosita there, your parents…."

"I needed you!"

Mike took a deep breath and blinked away his own tears "I blame myself everyday…for all of it."

"Me too." She wiped her tear stained face and then held out Mike's phone and gave it to him. He watched as she turned away sniffling and headed for the stairway.

"What time did Terry call?" he asked, looking down at his mobile.

Without facing him, she shook her head "Terry? He never called….I lied."

She continued up the stairs "I'm gonna take a rest for awhile." She said, leaving Mike alone and speechless.

As Michonne sat on the edge of the bed, she took deep breaths to temper her emotions. She then laid back as she felt her mind was swirling around inside her head. She needed to stop thinking, to stop feeling. It was more overwhelming than she expected it to be…not that she had much time to mull over all the possible effects from confronting Mike. She was suddenly so tired now. She texted Rick.

"Did you get enough? Because I want to leave, right now."

"Sit tight, we're on our way."

Michonne closed her eyes and drifted off.

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Rick and Andrea pulled into the long driveway that led up to the old house. Mike was outside and it seemed as though he was on his phone with someone. When he spotted the black sedan approaching, he quickly hung up.

"How do you wanna handle this?" Rick asked Andrea as he unbuckled his seatbelt.  
"Wait me?"

"Of course, you're the one he's more familiar with….Is that a problem?"

"No…I just thought….never mind, let's go." She opened her door to get out, "Let's not spook him."

"I think he's already spooked." Rick replied as he too got out of the car.

"Hey Mike." Andrea charmingly greeted, "Fancy seeing you out here. How's it going handsome?"

Rick couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"Ms. Harrison? What….How?" Confused, Mike scrunched his face at the pair.

"I know I know, you're baffled as to what we're both doing out here…." Andrea said as she slowly walked closer to him, Rick followed behind.

"How the hell did you even find me? Wait…" Mike's eyes widened, "…Are you working for Blake?"

"Actually no, we're not, but…" Andrea pulled out her badge and held it up for him to see, "…we know that you are."

"Shit." Mike hissed.

"Yeah, shit. Mr. Michael Anthony we'd like for you to come with us, we need to talk." She then pulled out her cuffs and read him his rights.

Mike closed his eyes and took a deep breath " Not without my lawyer."

As Andrea guided Mike to the backseat of the car, Rick went into the house.

"Michonne!...Michonne!" he called out for her.

"I'm up here," she answered.

Rick headed up the stairs and cautiously pushed open the door to the first room. "Hey," he said as he stood in the doorway. He found her sitting on the bed with her legs crossed beneath her and her arms stretched out propping her up on either side. Her head hung low, however.

"Hey" she whispered. "Where is he?"

"Andrea's got him outside. You okay?"

She slightly nodded without looking up at him. "What now?"

"Now, we take him down to King's County jail for questioning…see how much more we can get outta him. Maybe even make him a deal….How'd you feel about that?"

She rolled her head to the side and rested her cheek on her shoulder, "Blake's the big fish…" she quickly glanced at him. " I get it." She then climbed off the bed and made her way to the travel bags they brought with them. "I'll pack up and head back home then. You don't need me anymore right?" she declared determinedly.

Rick's eyebrows shot up, "What? You're gonna drive back to Atlanta now?" he asked incredulously. From everything he heard, he knew that she was in no position to make the two hour drive at that very moment, especially not by herself. He could tell she was emotionally spent… the weariness in her voice, her refusing to even look directly at him… she was in pain. "Listen, if you could just, hold on, for a few hours…maybe a day…we could all head back together. There's no need to rush." he implored.

"I don't want to stay here any longer Rick." Her voice more faint now. "I need to get back." She breathed deeply as the instability of the past year burdened her heart like a heavy stone. "I've been working so hard to keep busy, to keep focused …I don't like feeling this way…I feel helpless."  
"You can stay at the ranch." He offered.

She picked up her bags and sighed heavily, "No, that won't be necessary."

"Yeah…I think it is." Rick now stepped in to the room and stood directly in front of her. In an effort to comfort her somewhat, he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. His touch made her breath hitch.

"You said that you liked it there. You can go and rest… just for one day?"

Michonne finally locked her eyes with Rick's and she could see his genuine concern for her. She realized that she didn't really have the strength to fight him on anything, at least not now anyway.

"Fine, just for one day." she surrendered.

"Good" he smiled relieved, "I'll call Carol and let her know you're coming."

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Within a couple of hours, the agents were making their way back to Dixon's Acreage Farm, after having interrogated an uncooperative Mike. He refused to give them anything on Blake, despite the fact that they had his incriminating audio confession. He was adamant about having his lawyer there, a Mr. George C. Rigoux, which meant that Rick and Andrea had to wait awhile for him to arrive in King's County from Atlanta. In the meantime, Andrea organized with Sheriff Shane Walsh to have two officers available to escort Mr. Anthony back to the city with them.

During the drive back, Rick had taken out his phone and stared at it for sometime brooding on his own private thought. Every so often, his partner glanced over to him trying to guess what was going through his mind.

"We did good Grimes. Why are you looking worried? Everything is going to work out…we're close to the end."

"I know."

"Then what is it? She asked concernedly.

"Sheriff Walsh….Lori and Carl, they don't know that I'm here."

"Oh…" Andrea now understood that Rick was worried about the good ole Sheriff calling his wife to inform her of the surprise visitor he had in his department today.

"I'll meet you inside then," she said as she drove through the gates of the ranch. "I'll find Michonne and give her the update."

"Ok good, thanks." He absently responded.

She then got out and left him alone as he contemplated what exactly he was going to say. 'Get a grip Grimes.' He scolded himself, and he proceeded to dial his ex-wife's number.

"Hello", she answered after a few rings.

"Yeah Lori…it's me." He heard her sigh on the other line.

"Glad to hear from you Rick. Shane already called."

"Yeah I figured as much. How you been doing?"

"I'm good."

"And Carl?"

"He's…he's been you know, a typical teenager."

"I know it's been awhile, but I wanna come around and see him."

"Aren't you busy Rick?"

He swallowed hard, he was ashamed that he allowed his career to take him away from his child. But he honestly just could not continue living in the same small town with them…the pain and embarrassment ever so present with each waking day.

"Lori…"

She sighed again, "…sorry. Let me get him for you, hold on."

Excited and nervous at the same time, Rick held his breath…

"Hello."

"Carl."

"Hey Dad! You okay?"

Rick's heart swelled at hearing the joy and love in his son's voice. "Yeah son, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Mom's been giving me a hard time though…"

"That's good, she's supposed to, just don't be so difficult alright. Listen, I'm actually here, in town, and I wanted to come see you."

"Really? Awesome!"

Tears sprung to Rick's eyes,…even after everything, there was no resentment, no hate…just unconditional love from his child.

There wasn't anything in the world quite like it, and Rick knew that there was no excuse to take that for granted. His boy was a gift. Seeing Michonne in pain that day because she lost hers way too soon, was a stark reminder of that.

"I wanna come see you now…but I'm supposed to go into the police department in a few hours, I got a guy in a cell there waiting for his lawyer. Anyways, after I'm finished up with that I'm gonna come and get you. Maybe we could do something. You don't have any plans do ya?"

"It doesn't matter if I did Dad…. I miss you. You'll call me?"

"Yeah Carl, I will."

After he hung up, Rick made his way into the house. Upon entering he found his good buddy Daryl, lounging in front of the tv."Hey." he greeted.

"Hey brother, heard you got your perp…I mean with some help and all."

"Yeah." Rick looked around and noticed the place seemed empty. "Where's Carol and the girls?"

"They out by the stables…carried your friend to see the horses with 'em."

"Andrea?"

"Nah man."

"Oh!" Rick replied, pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah she wasn't looking too good, barely ate anythan'. I reckon Carol's trying to cheer her up."

"Good, good." Rick responded as he nodded his head.

"You saw Shane today?" Daryl enquired, fully aware of the mess between the two.

"I did." Said Rick with a pained expression. "Didn't say much to him though…let Andrea do all of the talking. Thought that was best."

Daryl nodded his head in agreement, "Want a beer man?" He offered as he got up and headed to the kitchen.

"Sure, thanks," answered Rick as he followed him.

"You ain't on duty or nothin' like that?"

Rick smiled as he took the can from him, "I'm always on duty. That's the job."

Just then, Sophia and Sara came tumbling through the front door with their mother close behind. "Hey, enough with all that racket the two of y'all. Sophia you know no ruff housing in here." Daryl lightly scolded as the girls flew passed him and Rick and headed up the stairs.

"Hey sweetie." Carol chimed as she came and gave her husband a peck. Rick couldn't help but grin at the loving pair and their apparent happy life together. He couldn't think of anyone else, more deserving than those two to have the simple joys of life. 'Well maybe…' he thought to himself.

"Hey where's Michonne?" he asked Carol.

"Michonne? Well she was right behind us."

Rick walked outside to see her coming back, but instead, found her already on the porch. She was sitting on a 3 seat wicker couch at the right end, gazing out at the landscape. "You okay?" he asked while squinting his eyes at her.

She turned and gave him a half-smile "I am." she nodded.

He cleared his throat as he thought about whether or not to disturb her solitude.

"How long you gonna just stand there Agent Grimes?"

He hadn't realized that he'd been staring at her for awhile. He quickly looked away and then down at his hands. He laughed at himself a bit as he walked over and sat next to her.

"I'm not going to break Rick." She reassured as she bumped her shoulder against his arm.

"Yeah, I know." He said noticing that she did look a lot better than she did earlier that day. "Andrea spoke to you?"

"Ummhmm, she did."

"Hopefully, it'll all be over soon."

She tilted her head sideways and glanced at him "Will it?"

"Well at least the hard part is," he responded as he stared at her. "And, I wanna thank you again for what you did…I know it wasn't easy. I mean I didn't even know…or, realize…" he sighed deeply as he was at a loss for words. She looked down at where his hand rested beside him and placed hers over it. He furrowed his brows and chuckled a bit. It seemed as though she was trying to comfort him when it should've been the other way round. Before she could remove it though, Rick quickly held it there, and fixed his eyes on her lovely face.

For a few moments they sat in silence gazing at each other, Rick's thumb now caressing her fingers. In all honesty, he really wanted to just kiss her again as his eyes traced the shape of her lips and the memory of their softness came flooding back to him. His heart began to race as the urge to give in to his desire was threatening to take him over. He had to look away. 'Now's not the time Grimes.' He chided himself, and he let her hand go.

Michonne took a deep breath and returned her gaze out across the ranch. "You know…" she began, "…I thought I'd gotten passed it…" she disclosed cutting the silence.

"I guess I was wrong. Maybe knowing about everything made it hurt more."

"What happened exactly? I mean, you said, back at the Aquarium, you said you couldn't have any kids. Was it because of that?"

She looked over at him again, "No. When I was about fifteen, I had an appendicitis, and I developed scar tissue which actually makes getting pregnant pretty difficult. Chances were slim to none."

"But you did…"

She smiled, "…but I did." She breathed heavily. "It was a damn miracle….Not too long after that was when, you know things got bad for us, and we fought a lot. My doctor said to take it easy, but I was stressed out, even more so when Mike would frequently leave Atlanta for his secret meetings. Even after he got the money to pay off the debt…." She rolled her eyes, "….anyways, at about four or five months along, I was driving and, I was on a call…stupid…some damn investors calling to complain, and well…"

"You got hit?"

"Actually no, I hit someone." She exhaled deeply, "Felt like the worst day of my life."

Rick nodded at her "But you did what you had to do to survive, to come this far…you didn't let it cripple you. That's something. It may not seem like it right now, but it'll get easier."

"Yes thank you, Dr. Grimes." She teased with a broad smile that went all the way to her eyes.

He frowned "Michonne, I'm trying to be serious here, trying to be a real friend."

"I know, I know….thank you." She tried hard not to giggle at his somber expression.

He couldn't resist, he smiled back at her. "But really, I also wanted to say…" Rick's face turned grim again. "…that I'm sorry, about you know, last night."

"What about last night?" she mockingly asked with a raised brow.

He shook his head while his hands toyed with one another, "I, shouldn't have been that way with you. I mean my behavior was…I don't know what came over me Michonne." Embarrassed, Rick's gaze was now strictly focused on the floor, as he tried to apologize for his rashness.

Michonne could not believe that this was the very same Agent Grimes who was just seconds ago, confidently counseling her. She thought he was absolutely adorable. 'Who is this man?' she thought to herself, as her heart warmed with affection for him. Without giving it much thought, she reached over and gently stroked the side of his rugged face with the back of her hand.

Rick was stunned at the sudden touch. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath to steady the palpitations of his heart. He didn't know what this woman was doing to him, how such a simple gesture could cause an instant burning in his chest. He didn't know if he should, or if he could, but he took a chance and looked directly into her captivating eyes. When he did, Rick saw what he'd hoped to see…he saw what he himself had been feeling since the day they met. There in Michonne's eyes, he recognized that 'something', that longing, that intrigue which fascinated him so swiftly, and so easily that very first day in the park.

And now in the intimacy of that moment, they quietly confessed to each other that they needed more from one other.

Rick held Michonne's hand that rested on his stubbled cheek and slowly leaned down to kiss her. Without hesitation, she kissed him back, intensely. She raised her other hand to cradle his face as she yielded helplessly to the desires she felt for him, thrilled to be so close to him once again.

"Hey Rick! You out here man?" hollered Daryl suddenly from the front door.

The startled pair quickly parted from their embrace.

"Ummmm, yeah." Rick responded as he hastily got off of the sofa and awkwardly walked over to the door. "Everything's okay?" he asked after he cleared his throat.

"I don't know, but your partner is looking for ya."

Rick nodded.

"Hey…" Daryl grabbed his arm before he headed back to the study room, "…you sure you're still on duty brother?" he grinned at him.

Embarrassed, Rick avoided eye contact with his buddy and shook his head at his indiscreet behavior. Before he could offer Daryl an explanation, Andrea came rushing out clearly upset over something.

"You looking for me? What's wrong?" Rick enquired as he instantly felt anxious.

"Just had Sheriff Walsh on the line….we have to go, now!" she informed him as she shoved the car keys into his hand.

"Andrea what's happening? What happened?"

"Mike's been shot!"

"What did you say?" Michonne asked wide-eyed with astonishment, as she was now standing behind Daryl in the doorway.

Rick scrunched his face in confusion "Shot?...By who?"

Andrea shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "Shane mentioned something about it being his lawyer, but that doesn't make any sense. Listen we'll talk about it in the car, let's just go." She pulled Rick towards the door.

He looked at Michonne as she stumbled to the side, bracing herself against the door.

"You coming?"

She looked up at him, too shocked to speak, and simply nodded.

"Alright, let's go and find out just what the hell happened?"

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	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Shane! Shane!...Where is he?" hollered Rick as he, his partner, and Michonne came rushing through the doors of the emergency waiting room of King's County General Hospital.

"They got him up in surgery now. He took two bullets to the chest….it's not looking good."

Michonne gasped as panic ricocheted through her entire system having heard the Sheriff plainly confirm that Mike's life was indeed in peril.

"How did this happen?" Andrea enquired completely befuddled.

Shane ran a hand through his thick, black hair, and with his face stern he narrowed his eyes at Rick. "Well why don't you tell me Agent Grimes! This is your case, your mess."

Rick's face grimaced and he inhaled deeply to force his anger down. "Not now Shane. For God's sake just tell me." The sheriff steeled his jaw at the agents before he responded, "Listen, I was in my office going through my stack of paper work, when all of a sudden I heard two shots ring out from down the hall in the interrogation room. By the time I rushed out my guys were in a standoff with this bastard."

"On the phone you said it was his lawyer? Mr. Rigoux?" Andrea interjected.

"That's what he told my guys when he came asking to see your perp. But…we didn't find no ID on him after everything." Shane answered as he shrugged his shoulders acknowledging his department's mess up.

"So you have him in lock-up? Cause we're gonna have to see him…right now." insisted Rick.

"Actually, he's here…one of my men, Officer Hobbs, took a hit from this guy so we fired back at him."

"You killed him?"

"Nah Rick, not that he didn't deserve it…we got him in the shoulder and in the leg, through and through."

"Take us to him then." Rick glanced between Shane and Andrea with a knowing look. "Your guy, Officer Hobbs, he's got a family?"

Shane nodded as he stood with his hands on his hips. "Wife, and three girls."

"So, take us to him, we'll get answers."

"Mike was afraid to talk…" Michonne added. "…this guy, whoever he really is, may not be forthcoming either." She noticed then that Shane gave Rick a pointed look.

"There's the boiler room, down in the basement," he suggested.

"Rick!" exclaimed Andrea.

"This is the job," he said to her. "We need answers, and…" he turned to face Michonne, "…we don't know just how bad it is with Mike."

"You mean, he may not make it?"She asked with a look of dread.

Rick just shrugged as an answer. "Shane where is his room?" he demanded again.

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Leaving Michonne in the waiting room, Shane led the agents to where the gunman was being held.

"Hey Wilson, give us a half-hour why don't you?" Shane dismissed the cop on guard.

"Sure thang Sheriff, he's been stitched up already." informed the officer as he headed down the hallway.

As soon as Shane opened the door, both Rick's and Andrea's mouths dropped in disbelief.

"Well I'll be…" gasped Agent Harrison. "Hello! Mr. Carlos Martinez right? I'm FBI Agent Andrea Harrison. My partner here, is Agent Rick Grimes, and we are so glad to have finally met you."

"So hold on, you guys know this dumb son-of-a bitch?" Shane asked.

"We know of him…he's a henchman for Phillip Blake."

"Screw you! I got nothing to say to you, you hear me!" Martinez snarled as he curled his upper lip in defiance.

In a instant Rick rushed towards him and wrung Martinez' shirt effectively raising him inches off the bed.

"You, are gonna tell us everythang we need to know, you understand? You're looking at attempted murder on two counts, one being a cop." Rick growled as he leaned in closer to his face.

Martinez grinned, "You sure about that? I'm a pretty good shot."

Rick furrowed his brows at the callous man and shoved him back down to the bed.

"Shane, let's go….Andrea, stay here."

"Of course not! Rick don't get carried away. This is not how we do things."

"Shane, help me get him up," ignoring Andrea's pleas, the ex-partners dragged Carlos Martinez off of his bed to take him out of the room. "Andrea, grab that chair and follow us then."

"Wait! Where are y'all taking me?" Mr. Martinez protested.

Shane chuckled "Aww brother we goin' to take you to Disneyland!"

Minutes later, Rick, Shane and Andrea stood around their suspect who was handcuffed to a chair in the hot, noisy mechanical room.

"Okay, so let's try this again, Mr. Martinez," Rick started. "Tell me first, why did you shoot Mike Anthony?"

He looked directly into Rick's eyes insolently. "To hell with you!" Rick reached out and grabbed his throat with one hand, and used the other to jab at his shoulder wound, causing it to instantly bleed.

Martinez howled in pain, but then quickly tried to suppress it by gritting his teeth. "I said, to hell with you!" he repeated stubbornly with a grunt.

Encouraged, Rick again struck at his shoulder, rupturing his sutures. The strong-willed henchman squeezed his eyes shut as he screamed louder the second time from the excruciating sensation.

"Okay Rick, don't overdo it." Andrea warned.

"Hey, feel free to step outside blondie," said Shane with his brows furrowed, "You in 'the sticks' now."

"Martinez…I could do this for hours. Talk to me…I could let you bleed out, and you don't want that. You do not want the Sheriff here to have at you for putting a bullet in one of his men. And my partner….hell don't be fooled my friend cause she's the worst."

Rick insistently looked over to Andrea for support.

She rolled her sea green eyes and sighed heavily as she, despite her better judgment, walked over to Martinez and swiftly threw a killer left hook cracking his right jaw.

"Argh!" he yelled.

"God Damn!" exclaimed Shane as he grinned from ear to ear.

"Come on Martinez! C'mon! The Sheriff is up next and he ain't one to be outdone." Rick cautioned.

"No I ain't. Hobbs is one of my best men too. So…" Shane bent over aiming his foot for the leg wound.

"Alright alright!" breathing heavily now, he caved. "But….I want a deal."

"Shoot, that was easy." Shane said disappointedly.

"Only if you tell us everything." Rick agreed.

Bloodied and swollen, Carlos Martinez sang like a canary. He confessed to having dealings with the notorious Phillip Blake for close to ten years, including the last heist in New York for which Terry Andrews recruited Mike. He informed them that as of late, Blake was suspicious of an underhanded deal where he felt money was stolen from him and, therefore, was on a rampage to discover the truth. It turned out that Terry and Mike got the brilliant idea to undervalue one of the stolen paintings at ten million but, sold it for its true value of fifteen million and they split the difference in monies between themselves. That's why they both went into hiding. But they moronically kept in touch and so Blake sent Carlos to take them out. Finally, he revealed that the last remaining items to be recovered were sold to a young heir in Indiana.

Satisfied, the trio hauled their captive back up to his room for medical treatment. Not too long after getting him settled, Rick's phone rang, it was Michonne. He stepped out into the hallway to answer the call. "Hey, I was gonna come see you in a bit. You won't believe who we got up here…." He then paused as he noticed that Michonne was sobbing on the other line. "What's wrong?"

"Mike….he didn't make it Rick...This was not part of the plan." she cried.

"No, it wasn't." he responded somberly. "I'm sorry ….you in the waiting room?"

"Yeah."

"Just hold on I'll be down in a minute. Just stay there." With that Rick immediately headed for the stairwell, adrenaline freshly coursing through his veins he wanted to get to her quickly, he did not want to have to wait on the elevator.

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Whilst watching their perp being attended to, Andrea couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at the way events unfolded. Everything that led to that particular moment was just so unpredictable and it made her feel, for a lack of a better word, insecure. She was a highly trained professional and thus, should've been able to close that case without resorting to insanity. She blamed desperation both on her part and Rick's as well. 'Rick….where is Rick?' she thought to herself. She remembered him getting a call, but soon after she and the Sheriff were distracted with the million and one questions from the doctor concerning Martinez' fresh injuries.

"Hey Walsh, I'll be back." She set out to find just where her partner disappeared to. She got into the elevator and decided to check back in the emergency waiting room first. But when she got there, she didn't find him. Actually, she noticed that she didn't find Michonne either.

'Something must have happened...' She deduced, '…probably something with Mike.' She decided to go find the attending surgeon instead. But, then, she did find her partner, and she found him with her.

'Oh-my-God!' Andrea's alarms went off blaring inside her head. She stopped in her tracks, slack-jawed at the scene before her. Agent Rick Grimes was sharing a rather intimate moment right around the corner with their CI. In an open hallway, in the middle of a bustling small-town hospital, there they were, standing almost flush against each other; His left hand was tenderly stroking Michonne's right arm while his other was cupping her cheek as he used his thumb to affectionately wipe away her flowing tears.

Rick's dirty little secret was on full display.

Andrea was pissed, firstly, at him, then secondly, at herself. How could he be so irresponsible and reckless? And how could she not have known all this time. Yes, yes she saw his attraction to Miss Danvers early on and suspected he probably flirted with her to get her to open up to him. Hell, in all honesty, she herself had used that old-fashioned tactic a hundred times over.

However, this….this was more than the product of a flirtatious encounter or two…or even three. This was flat out evidence of an inappropriate relationship. Clearly Agent Grimes had crossed the bloody line! And Agent Harrison, was livid!

"Rick!" she called out to him through gritted teeth.

Having gotten his attention, Rick simultaneously peered towards her, and, instinctively stepped away from Michonne. Andrea glared at him, "Can I see you for a moment, Agent Grimes?" Before he could answer, she walked off and went in to the closest unoccupied room leaving the door open for him. He came in right after and shut the door behind him.

"So?" with her arms across her chest, she looked at him completely annoyed.

"So…Mike, he didn't make it Andrea…he died."

She dropped her gaze and shook her head. "Damn it." She breathed. "I'm really sorry about that."

"Michonne's trying to wrap her head around it. I think it's all been too much."

"Yeah…and," she shrugged her shoulders, "it's not like you're going out of your way to make things easier for her now, are you?" She then shifted her weight to one side and placed a hand on her hip. With her head tilted up at him she narrowed her eyes accusingly at him.

He took a deep breath and rubbed both his palms up and down his face. "What are you saying exactly Andrea?"

"Oh my god, don't even Rick! Don't do that…I saw you! Just be honest with me."

Rick went silent.

"Tell me when Rick, when did you start sleeping with her?"

"I'm not…sleeping with her." He refuted while trying to keep his voice low.

Andrea raised a finger at him now, "We are supposed to be the nation's elite police force. 'Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity' that's the motto Rick. Geez I know we do a lot of shit…hell we just interrogated a suspect in a basement minutes ago…. But this….you know that the bureau has faced a lot of criticism for hundreds of cases concerning Agents carrying out inappropriate behavior. You could get suspended, even lose your job. What about your reputation? Huh? Do I have to remind you of Agent Pete Anderson?"

"This is nothing close to that." responded Rick with a disgusted expression.

Pacing the floor, her face was fully flushed now.

"Andrea…" he chewed on the perfect response to placate her but nothing he could think of seemed to be suitable.

"Rick, please just tell me what happened." She took a deep breath, "Maybe we could fix it together. You know that I care. You're more than just my partner, and I don't want to see you screw up."

"Something happened…something is happening, but then, nothing like that." He responded as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Did you have sex with Michonne?"

"No."

"No? But something is happening?"

"Yeah," he nodded "Something real."

Her features then softened towards him. With sympathetic eyes she paused and regarded her friend. "You know that after everything you've been through I really want to see you happy. I do." She sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. "Lucky for you this case is finally closing and we don't need Michonne anymore as a source. But, it isn't really over just yet Rick."

"So what are you saying?"

"So what I 'm saying is that you have to keep your bloody hands to yourself Agent! If this is real, like you said, you'll find a way to make it work. I know you will. But for now you have to let me take care of things with her."

Rick understood that his partner was trying to cover his back. "I'll get Martinez transported to Atlanta, but first I'm supposed to go and see Carl. I promised him."

"I have the Sheriff here, I'll manage 'til you get back."

"Okay." Rick nodded and turned and opened the door to leave, but then he paused when he caught sight of Michonne down the hallway, apparently on her phone. "Andrea, this…this is different." He said without looking back. He inhaled deeply as he gazed at her leaning against the sickly pale blue wall. Her head low, she was engrossed in her conversation with her dreads cascading around her tear stained face.

Noticing his hesitation, Andrea walked up behind him and rested a reassuring hand on his tense shoulder. "I promise you, I'll handle her. Don't worry, just go."

Heavy hearted, Rick turned and took off in the opposite direction and at that moment Michonne glanced up to see him walking away.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

A/N Warning: Time Jump ahead.

Driving back to King's County General Hospital Rick felt significantly better now after having spent some time conversing with his son out on his ex-wife's front porch. Seeing Carl had put a lot of things into perspective for the Agent, and he found within himself a new zeal for the future…his future: with his job, with his son, and with Michonne. Andrea was right; he was going to find a way. He had to. He had made a promise just the day before, to try and make a new start and he was going to try like hell to keep that promise.

Lost in thought, Rick barely noticed his ringing phone that rested on the passenger seat beside him. He grabbed it up just in time though and answered.

"Hello."

"Rick, where are you?" It was Michonne.

"I'm on my way back to the hospital to get Martinez. I'll see you in a bit."

"No, you won't."

"Wait what? Where are you?" asked Rick as he scrunched his face in confusion.

"Andrea knows doesn't she? About us?"

Rick took a long slow breath, inhaling deeply, "Yeah….she does. She said something to you?"

"Let's just say that she was very…professional towards me after you left."

He paused; he didn't know how to respond.

"That's okay, I get it." She offered. "I'm grabbing my stuff and heading out the door as we speak."

"You're at the ranch? Where's Andrea?"

"At the hospital I presume."

"You left her there?"

"I got one of the officers to bring me back to get my car. Awkward two-hour drives are not my thing."

Rick then heard her sigh heavily, "What is it?" he asked.

"I called Mike's relatives, told 'em what happened and that they needed to come down here to sort things out."

"You told them everything?"

"No, just enough."

"Yeah we're gonna handle that."

"Ok. Well I'm getting in my car now to leave. You're gonna come and see me?"

"Yeah well we have a lot of things to sort through with the lawyers and stuff. That's how it goes."

"No Rick….you're gonna come and see me." She stated more pointedly.

"I want to." He breathed. He contemplated how best to respond as he was still trying to figure out a way. "I have-"

"Listen…" she cut him off, "I want to see what this is. Something good has to come out of all of this mess. Don't you want that? Or..."

Sitting alone in her car Michonne paused to take a deep breath while clutching her steering wheel. The events of the past few days went flashing through her head triggering every emotion possible. She just had to momentarily place the phone down, she didn't want Rick to hear her fighting back more tears, as she tried to compose herself. After she cleared her throat, she raised her phone back up to hear Rick calling her name.

"Yeah I'm here." She responded softly.

"Michonne, I want the same thing. I know you know that. I don't want you to worry about anythang...Do you trust me?"

She furrowed her brows at the question posed and then nodded as though he could see her.

"I do Rick…"

"Good. I'm gonna figure this out…We'll figure it out."

"We will." Michonne conceded hopeful. With nothing else to say she hung up.

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Sometime after, Rick was back at the hospital and walking towards Agent Harrison . "Hey."

She was sipping a cup of coffee as she sat outside Martinez' room with Sheriff Walsh and Officer Wilson. She got up when she saw Rick. "Hey…so? How's Carl?"

Rick glanced behind her at his son's step-father and pulled Andrea away down the hall a bit. "He's okay."

"Michonne-"she started.

"Yeah she called me."

"She ditched me…while I was distracted on the phone." She folded her arms and scoffed. "She really is something else."

Rick smiled. "Said she wanted to get back home is all. Don't take it too personal."

Andrea shook her head at him, "Anyways, I informed the boss lady back in Washington about the intel from Mr. Carlos concerning the whereabouts of the remaining paintings in Indiana. She wants us out there in a couple of days…." She eyed Rick for a moment then asked "Are you up for that? Because…Agents Holder and Andrews are available to make the trip. I asked."

With an eyebrow raised, Rick cautiously studied his partner while she peered at him in return.

"We do have a lot of paper work to get through Andrea, some checks to make on Martinez' story….not to mention we have to deal with the death of Mike Anthony."

"There is a considerable amount of work to push through, a lot of loose ends and, we want to get it all done as quickly as possible, don't we, Agent Grimes?"

Rick tilted his head side to side while glancing around the hallway." "Yeah Agent Harrison, I'd say as quickly as possible."

She shook her head at him "I thought so. I'll make the call first thing in the morning. And no offense but I've had enough of this place, I'm ready to leave. I' m glad that this is over."

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3 months later…

"Dad this place is awesome!" said Carl effusively, his eyes wide with excitement. He gazed in wonderment as he and his father stood in the middle of the tunnel of the Ocean Voyager section at the Georgia Aquarium. Rick grinned at his son's pure delight.

"I mean this is by far the most spectacular thing I've ever seen. You think that maybe…maybe I could like come and work here one day?"

A bemused expression crossed Rick's face, "So what happened to becoming a cop like your old man? Like Grandpa?"

"Dad!" he whined, "I should have options right?"

Rick laughed and held his son close. "Yeah I guess."

"Being a cop is pretty exciting, and maybe I could join the FBI like you. I'll get to travel a lot, and do cool stuff."

"Well son about that, we gotta talk." Rick guided Carl through the crowd to a quieter area. He needed his son's undivided attention, so they walked to a lounge area and found a couple of seats.

"Is everything ok Dad?" Carl asked with a hint of concern, his voice cracking mid-sentence.

The sound of maturity made Rick's heart heavy in an instant. "You're quickly growing up to become a man Carl. And in today's world, that ain't as easy as it used to be, not that it ever really was…But life's a whole lot more complicated now. I think you see that. With how things worked out between your Mom and me, I've said it before, but I'm truly sorry about that. All I want Carl, is for you to be happy. Nothing, I mean nothing else, has ever been more important."

"I'm happy Dad, especially today." Carl grinned.

Rick placed his hand on his boy's back and patted him firmly before gripping him by the shoulder.

"I want to do better though. Being in Washington was never my first choice; I'd preferred to be closer to you. But at the time…"  
"You had no choice, I remember."

"….yeah, well, it turns out actually, my partner, Agent Andrea Harrison….I told you about her before…she did me a huge favour. You see she helped me to get an interview about a month ago with the Director of the Atlanta FBI Offices"

Carl's face lit up, "Really?"

Rick nodded, "Turns out our last case was a pretty big deal, we helped to put away a guy that's been causing a lot of trouble for years."

"Wow, that's great Dad."

"So I got a call back last week, and, they offered me a transfer here in Atlanta to the Corporate Fraud Division."

"What? Are you serious? So you'll be moving back here?"

"I already got a couple of places to check out, thought maybe after we leave here you could come help me out with that."

Carl turned and threw his arms around his Father's neck, "I love you Dad!"

"I love you too Carl." Rick swallowed hard as he hugged his son tightly, cherishing the heart-warming moment. He felt incredibly grateful and he silently promised himself that he would do everything possible to keep his kid close.

Just then he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He took it out and read the incoming message:

"I'm here." Rick's heart suddenly quickened. It was Michonne, and he hadn't gotten around to mentioning her to Carl as yet.

'We're in the lounge." He replied. He figured she'd take awhile to find them so he needed to talk quickly.

Carl took note of his father's changed disposition. He seemed nervous all of a sudden. "What is it Dad? Is it work? Do you have to leave?" he enquired feeling a bit saddened.

"No Carl, it's not work."

"Oh! Ok…then who was that?" He realized that his father now kept glancing all around as though he were searching for something….or someone. "Dad?"

Rick turned back to meet Carl's eyes. "Listen son….I also wanted to let you know something else that's important" he inhaled deeply to control his nerves. "….there's this someone I've met….I have mentioned her to you a couple of times …she runs an Art gallery."

"Yeah, she's the one who helped you with your last case?"

Rick nodded, "Her name, her name's Michonne, and, well, we've been you know, trying to figure out some things with each other…" Rick paused. 'You can do this Grimes.' He took another deep breath, " I wanted you to meet her because she's….she's…I-"

"You like her." Carl finished for him as he rolled his eyes.

Completely embarrassed by the conversation, Rick shut his eyes momentarily.

"So you have a girlfriend?"

"God! Yeah…something like that" he breathed.

"Dad you're so weird!" Carl chuckled.

Rick shrugged his shoulders, "I know. So, how do you feel about that? Me being with someone who's not your mother?"

"I think…" Carl appeared pensive as he responded to Rick's question. "…it's important for you to be happy too. I think you deserve it. So, are you happy Dad?" he asked earnestly.

At that moment, Rick caught sight of Michonne cautiously walking towards them. She was casually dressed in a blue jeans paired with a flowing white shirt and flats. She looked gorgeous as ever. He immediately got up and nodded at her.

Following suit, Carl also got up and looked in the direction to which his Father was gazing. "She's here?" He felt unprepared, he didn't realize that his Dad intended for them to meet today.

The woman he noticed approaching them was definitely not what he had in mind, not that he even had any time to consider what she would be like. With long dreadlocks and dark brown skin, Carl could not help but observe that his Dad's 'girlfriend' looked absolutely nothing like his mother. He did note, however, that she was beautiful.

"Hey" she greeted them with the brightest of smiles when she finally got close.

"Hi" Rick replied as he hooked his thumbs in his front jeans pockets, keeping things casual in front of his boy.

"You must be Carl, Hi I'm Michonne." She introduced as she extended her hand to him.

"Hi" Carl shook her hand whilst deliberately locking his eyes with hers. Impressed by his boldness, Michonne tilted her head and smiled thoughtfully at him. She then playfully swatted Rick in his stomach, "You didn't tell him I was coming?"

Carl glanced between the two adults.

"I just barely did."

For a few seconds, no one said anything.

"Ok…" Michonne started, "Carl, I'm sorry for this", she apologized. "It's awkward I know and even a little unfair for us to just spring this on you."

"It is unexpected." Carl confessed. Even though he really meant what he said before about wanting his father to be happy, he thought that he'd have some time to adjust to the idea of a stranger being a part of his Dad's life.

"Of course….the thing is…"she carried on, "Truthfully, I don't get to be with your dad as much as I'd like to. So, when he told me about being here with you today, I, I just wanted to see him…." She was slightly uncomfortable with her admission to a thirteen year old but she had no choice at that moment.

"…and I was excited to finally meet you….But I am sorry for the intrusion."

Carl considered for a moment just what she was saying, then he looked up at his father "You miss him….I know what that's like."  
Michonne sheepishly grinned at him, "Yeah?"

He nodded returning his eyes to meet hers.

Rick proudly patted his son on the shoulder.

"Well, I brought you something that might make up for this." She then handed him the bag she was holding.

With a raised eyebrow he took it from her, "What is it?"

Rick shook his head at her with a look of curiosity, he had no idea that she planned to bring a gift.

"Your dad told me something interesting about you."

Carl reached into the bag and pulled out four vintage looking near-minted comic books. "Super Cops?" he twisted his features at the unfamiliar title.

"What you've never heard of it?" She placed her hands on her hips and widened her almond shaped eyes at him feigning surprise.

He shook his head no.

"Ever heard of Chuck Dixon?"

"Of course."

"Well, you're in for a real treat my friend. These guys don't mess around. They're strong, and brave, and loyal. They fight hard for what's right…they're pretty amazing, much like your Dad here." She winked at Rick whose face flushed at the compliment.

"My Dad's a badass!" he stated with a huge grin on his face.

"Carl! Language!" Rick reprimanded.

Michonne laughed at the teenager's declaration. "Oh most definitely a badass."

Carl took note of how she then looked over to his father with admiration. He thought the world of him, and if she did as well, then, this woman was alright.

He analyzed his gift and affirmed his appreciation for it, "Thanks Michonne."

"Don't mention it."

She then looked around at the growing throng, "So, you see anything amazing today?"

"Dad seemed to love the whale sharks in the tunnel" Carl smirked.

"Everyone loves the whale sharks, but what about you?"

"I don't know, everything is so cool."

"Well when I come here I love to pet the crayfish and the stingrays."

Carl's shoulders then slumped as he exhaled heavily and dropped his gaze to the floor.

Confused Michonne furrowed her brows "What?"

"My Dad wouldn't let me."

"Rick!" She looked over at him with a frown.

"There was too much of a crowd." Rick defended.

"Yeah but I really wanted to Dad…"

"Oh come on Rick…honestly, that's why I'm really here."

"Fine." He surrendered as he threw his hands up, "Let's go back."

000

After having finally made their way through the masses at the petting pool, Carl was ecstatic to get his chance to actually touch the exotic sea creatures. Contented yet, famished, the threesome then headed to the cafeteria to grab something to eat. When they were done filling their stomachs, Carl needed to wash up, so Rick and Michonne waited for him just outside the restroom.

Finding themselves "alone" for the first time that day, Rick couldn't help but take advantage of the opportunity, as brief as it would've been. He placed his hands at the small of Michonne's back and pulled her in close to him.

"Wait" she whispered, but he pretended not to hear her, and leaned in to give her a full kiss before she could further protest. He'd wanted to hold her since his eyes first fell on her from across the lounge earlier on, and it took everything he had to keep his behavior chaste in front of his impressionably young son. Michonne, on the other hand, constantly ran her hands through his soft curly hair every chance she got...But that was it. She didn't want to make a scene. Yes she did miss him immensely in every way, but she had gotten accustomed to them playing it safe whenever in public.

And now, here she was, being held firmly in his arms in the middle of a crowd. In her heart though, she relished the moment. His scent, together with the feel of lips, pressing against hers longingly, ignited her senses completely, causing her pulse to race almost uncontrollably. Every part of her was set aflame instantly.

'How does he do this to me?' she wondered to herself just as she felt him snake his hands up her back to pull her in even closer.

He then leaned in to her ear, "It is really good to see you" he uttered in a low voice.

The warmth of Rick's breath caused her to inhale deeply and she raised her arms to rest them lightly on his shoulders. She, in turn, gave him a tender kiss on his jaw line.

"Just a little while longer right?" she responded as she allowed one of her hands to travel down to his chest.

Rick gazed at her adoringly. He hadn't uttered those words to her as yet, but he knew that he was in-love with this enticing woman. For the past few months they rarely spent time physically together, they mainly communicated on the phone or over the internet, and even then Rick was particularly cautious where that was concerned.

For the first few weekends after coming back from King's County, Rick flew Michonne out to little hideaways in neutral states such as Florida and Texas to see her. But for the most part, it was only after the trial was over, and Rick got the interview for the transfer, were they really comfortable to see each other a bit more freely.

Furthermore, dealing with the aftermath of Mike's fraud, and tragic death, kept Michonne particularly occupied, in more ways than one. Thankfully, Rosita proved herself quite capable in helping her to keep things from falling apart. Her affairs were by no means completely settled as yet, but she was managing at that point.

"You're still gonna look at apartments today?" she enquired.

"I wanted to, but Carl seems to be pretty tired, so I'll reschedule for tomorrow instead."

"Ok."

"Why don't you come with us to King's County?"

"No… be with your son. I've distracted you enough" she giggled.

"Not enough." Rick teased as he, once again, captured her lips with his. At that point, however, Carl finally came out from using the washroom.

"Eww Dad!"

Rick immediately released his hold on Michonne. "Aw shoot, sorry Carl" he apologized as he dragged his hands over his face. "Didn't mean for you to see that."

Michonne, meanwhile, turned away from the teen, utterly mortified at the moment.

"Anyways I think it's time to go."

"Yeah ok" she agreed.

After getting back to the parking lot, before they said their goodbyes, Michonne arranged to meet Rick the next day to help him search for a new apartment.

During their drive back, Rick decided to keep Carl for the night at the Dixon's Farm. He was excited about having a sleepover with his dad and Uncle Daryl. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day for Father and son alike.

The next morning, after having breakfast with the Dixons, he dropped Carl back home and then Rick messaged Michonne the address of where she should meet him.

"No problem." She texted back.

"I can't wait to see you….Are we gonna go back to your place afterwards?" he responded suggestively.

"Oh Rick…we'll see."

As he read her response, he could not hold back the huge smile that spread across his face. He knew that it had been less than twenty-four hours since he last saw her, but, in actuality, it had been a lot longer since they'd really been alone with each other.

It was the day he had his interview with the Director of the Atlanta division. He didn't tell her he would be there, instead he just showed up at her place, with her favourite bottle of wine and a single Vermeer Call Lily flower. Within minutes, however, they'd allowed themselves to be conquered by their growing affections for each other. The smoothness of her skin, her tasty swollen lips, her longs legs entangled with his, and her calling his name breathlessly in his ear, were all etched into his brain. The memory of their last encounter filled Rick with anticipation, and suddenly it seemed as though he couldn't get to her fast enough.

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"Now as you can see, the place is fully equipped with modern appliances in the kitchen, and, the bedroom has lots and lots of closet space. Plus one of the city parks is just minutes away!" pitched the enthusiastic realtor.

"I like it." Rick said as he passed his hands along the counter tops.

But Michonne wasn't completely sold, she cleared her throat," What about this colour, can it be repainted?"

Rick furrowed his brows as he glanced around, "What's wrong with the colour? I-" she swatted him in his chest to stay quiet.

"Well? Can it be changed?" she persisted.

The realtor's demeanor switched as she sighed heavily. "Mostly we don't really fancy that" she objected.

Michonne rolled her eyes at her, "Ok well thank you, so much, for your-"

"But but but..." she cut in, "...sometimes, we do make allowances for special tenants. You work for the Federal Bureau right Mr. Grimes?" she asked looking over his application.

"Yes he does," confirmed Michonne. "...and that's Agent Grimes. We're really happy to hear you say that Mrs. ..."

"Ms. Niedermyer."

"Yes, well, could we have a moment to talk it over?"

"Of course! I'll be right outside making a few calls."

"Michonne, what was that?" Rick enquired as soon as the realtor closed the door behind her.

"What? Do you honestly like this wall colour? I mean the place is nice and comfortable but...' she winced as she again studied the dreary shade.

Rick couldn't help but chuckle at her peevishness over paint.

"Don't laugh. I'm looking out for you, and I would have to look at this awful hue when I come to visit."

"Or..." he stepped closer to her and cupped her chin in his hand.

"Or what?" she looked at him perplexed.

"Or, you could just move in with me" he grinned. "Do whatever you like to this place. I haven't been that much of a pain have I?"

"I, I don't know...are you being serious right now?"

"Why would I joke about something like that?"

"I don't know." she shook her head as she sighed heavily, pulling away from him.

Rick then felt guilty for pressuring her even in the slightest. He was just enjoying the moment too much, and he let his emotions get the better of him.

'Of course she's not ready...it's way too soon!' he reminded himself.

"Hey I'm sorry. I wasn't asking seriously or nothin'" he lied.

She turned back and faced him with narrowed eyes. "You just said you were." Michonne may not have known Rick for a long time, but she quickly learned that he was a man who almost always meant what he said.

"Ok, so I was being serious...I am is it Michonne...me trying for a new start, with you. There ain't nothing else, you know that."

She searched his face earnestly, trying to understand the urgency she thought she detected in his tone. "We'll get there Rick. We've been lucky so far...and I'm happy that you kept your promise to me...and to Carl. We'll get there."

She took both his hands in hers and interlocked their fingers together. With her eyes smiling at him, she reached up ever so slightly and kissed him just for a moment.

He exhaled deeply as he gazed at her, "I understand Michonne, I do...But, the thing is..." he suddenly had to look away from her stare. "...the thing is that...I'm in-love with you." He then looked back at her with a sincere expression. "I love you. I do." He further confessed.

Michonne's mouth fell slightly open in shock, but nothing came out. Nothing could come out even if she tried.

"Now I know that may be a lot for you right now, but that's how I feel, ever since I met you. And I don't want you to say anything you're not ready to. But like I said, this is just about me being real with you." He then let her hands go and instead held her by her arms and firmly kissed her again.

He kissed her hard, and deep, and slow. Reaffirming that his declaration of love for her was true.

When they parted, Michonne was still at a loss for words.

"Okay?" he asked her as he peered at her.

"...Okay." she finally breathed out.  
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	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

A/N: Another Time Jump straight ahead (so sorry)

Just over 7 months later…

A majestic golden sunset served as a picturesque backdrop for the vibrantly rustic-coloured trees that now lined Michonne's favourite park in downtown Atlanta.

"Its 5:13…it'll be…dark soon…" panted Rosita as they ran their final lap around the path. "…wanna still go for some iced tea afterwards?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Michonne replied absent-mindedly.

Rosita glanced at her sideways. "Yeah? Maybe…we could go to 'TILLY's' bar…"

"Ummhmm sounds good."

"Even pick-up some thirsty morons for the night? Show 'em a good time."

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

Rosita sighed heavily as she immediately pulled to a stop. "I knew it! You're here, but you're not here. You've been distant this entire time."

Michonne halted as well and bent over trying to catch her breath. "What? What are you….talking …about?"

"Oh come on, what did I just say, huh?"

"Something…" Michonne shook her head realizing that she honestly wasn't paying attention to her friend. Her thoughts were elsewhere…

"I'm sorry…was just thinking" she apologized straightening up.

"You thinking about Stookey's display tomorrow night?"

'No.' she silently admitted.

"I am."

"Don't worry; we put in a lot of effort to pull this off. I know you're concerned that his pieces aren't of the caliber people have come to associate with the ASZ, but we'll make it work. So don't worry." Rosita encouraged.

Business was difficult for the past year since…well, since everything happened, but as her new partner, Rosita went above and beyond to assist her in keeping the gallery's doors open. They hadn't had any big exhibitions since that of Noah Davis', however, they'd discovered the works of a maimed veteran soldier turned artist named Bob Stookey. His paintings were edgy, they were bold, and they were shocking to say the least, and Michonne agreed to host him in order to generate fresh interest. Tomorrow night was a big deal and she needed to be focused 100% on her job….but she wasn't.

"I'm so excited, anxious, but mostly excited" gushed Rosita with a huge grin that lit up her pretty face.

"Me too." Michonne added, though half-heartedly. She knew that she should've shared her partner's enthusiasm, but any zealous feelings she had about work were unfortunately marred by her feelings of frustration due to her personal life…specifically and solely in connection with Rick.

Rosita then turned to continue with their run but Michonne had had enough for the evening.

"Wait, I think I'm done."  
"You sure?"

"Yeah. I think I shouldn't have missed lunch today." It was the first excuse she could've come up with. It wasn't a complete lie; she really just had a protein bar and some orange juice as a midday meal. "I'll see you tomorrow partner."

Rosita offered her another warm smile. "Tomorrow."

000

'Six days! Almost a whole God Damn week!' Michonne cursed in her mind while standing under the hypnotizing spray from her hot shower.

She didn't think that Rick would've been gone for this long. He and his team were needed for an interstate fraud case in California, and although he'd been away a few times before, it had never been for this long.

'This is the job.' He said to her during their last phone call, and she reassured him that of course she was okay with it. She was…until she realized that she wasn't!

She missed him…pure and simple…and bitterly so. She hated herself for feeling so negatively towards him because of that, but she would never let him see it. To be unreasonable and clingy, that wasn't her. So she couldn't understand what her frustrations were all about. Why was she unexpectedly so fearful? Fearful of what? What was she expecting? Michonne dragged her hand over her face as these questions plagued her more and more with each day his trip kept getting extended by.

Then suddenly, it hit her, like a ton of bricks, she recognized within herself the familiarity of her situation. 'How in the hell did I reach back here?' She realized that she was reacting the same way she used to with him…with Mike. 'Oh God no!' She was actually allowing some residual fear of abandonment to consume her. Perplexed, she turned off the shower, grabbed her towel and got out.

But no, this man was incredible to her, and it made no sense, no sense at all, that she should be filled with so much pessimism when he wasn't around for a few days. Michonne had to remind herself that Rick was Rick….Rick was not Mike.

'Damn It!'

Even from the grave this son-of-a-bitch was still affecting her…but, how could he not? He was her significant other for five years; they loved each other, and lived and worked with each other. For five years they'd fought and made-up with each other, they'd supported and disappointed one another. They had a life together. When it all went to shit, it hurt like hell! And that was the God's-honest truth.

Having a new start with Rick, didn't mean that her past would evaporate into thin air, and that she would literally have a clean slate. But who would want that? The woman she'd become as a result of those experiences was the woman with whom Rick had fell in-love with, the woman for whom he'd turned his life upside down just to be with. She stayed at his place more often than at hers as she felt more comfortable with him there. "Then why are you keeping it?" Rick had sharply questioned her about her apartment during their first big dispute. "Why keep the gallery then?" she spat back, "It links me to my past with him as well…every tile, every light fixture…hell even the bloody name 'The Artist Safe Zone Gallery' was his idea! So what's your point? I'm with you. This is just how it is."

Michonne got out of the steam-filled bathroom and prepared to turn in for an early night. She was weary, but her conflicted feelings would not let her go down easily, so, she took two sleeping pills before climbing in to her lonely bed, and turned off the light. Just then, however, her phone rang out on the bedside table. She raised herself up slightly as she reached over to check it. She saw that it was Rick. Taking a deep breath she pressed 'Ignore' and dropped back into her pillows. 'I just can't.' She thought to herself as she shut her eyes tightly waiting for the drugs to take a hold of her.

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Elegantly dressed in a knee length, form fitting purple dress, with three- quarter sleeves, Michonne stood and smiled brightly before the small crowd that was gathered in the gallery. They applauded after Rosita delivered a moving introduction to their featured artist, and then proceeded to mingle whilst feasting on finger foods and Red wine for the evening.

"Oh girl, this looks wonderful" commented her good friend, and attorney, Sasha Williams-Ford. "You have a nice turn out here."

"I'm happy that you and Abe could make it as well, I know how busy you both are…so it means a lot."

"Don't mention it."

"And I'll be even happier if you go and make a purchase."

Sasha laughed as she bumped her shoulder, "Of course, once I see something within my budget."

"You have one of those?" Michonne teased, "With that huge closet just for shoes?"

Sasha rolled her eyes and shook her head, "That one over there…with all the green in it, I think my husband might like that. Let me go check it out."

"Please do sweetie."

"Oh wait…" Sasha paused, "…I think, someone's checking you out!" She directed Michonne's attention towards the front door.

Rick had just walked in, causing her heart to instantly race uncontrollably in her chest.

She avoided his stare as he walked steadily over to her.

"I didn't know he was back…Did you?"

"Yeah" she breathed out as she nodded her head. Rick had called a couple of times for the day and left a voice message saying that he'd arrived home. But when she neither answered nor returned any of those calls, he'd gotten a hold of Rosita and relayed his message through her. After her 'revelation' the night before, Michonne, however, was just too confused and felt apprehensive about seeing him. 'How ironic…after having missed him so intensely.'

But here he was of course, she was only slightly surprised. He knew of the project her and Rosita were working on for the past few weeks, so it was only obvious he would come and support her.

"Could you excuse me for a minute?" she asked as she withdrew herself to meet him halfway.

"Hey" she greeted with a half-smile and a giant knot in the pit of her stomach.

"Hey" he responded with a tone that was a mixture of both concern and annoyance.

"When did you get in?"

"Just after twelve, I called…you didn't get my message?"

"I'm sorry…"

"I spoke to Rosita…why weren't you answering your phone? You didn't even call me back."

She looked around, raised her arms and made a gesture to the exhibition. "Been busy." She replied a bit bluntly, causing Rick's face to go taut.

He nodded at her and dropped his gaze, "That's good."

Her heart sank at his hurt expression. 'What am I doing?' she chastised herself. She took a step closer to him. "I'm sorry Rick."

With his eyes still low, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing a kiss on her neck. "I missed you" he whispered.

'Oh God!' Her body shivered. Tears then sprang to her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away and swallowed hard as she gently squeezed his arms. "Me too." She confessed as she pulled back and hung head low so he won't see her troubled eyes.

Still he cupped her chin to tilt her head, and, tenderly, kissed her burgundy colored lips. With his piercing blue eyes gazing down at her, Michonne found it impossible to maintain eye contact with him. She tried to pull away from his grip, but he only held her tighter.

"What's wrong?" he asked knowingly with a low voice.

She shook her head without saying anything.

"Michonne…" he uttered softly, his voice almost pleading. "Tell me…"

"I'm okay Rick. Please, nothing's wrong."

Not convinced in the slightest, he guided her towards the front door with an arm still around her.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she furrowed her brows at him.

"Just taking a walk. Is that ok?" he responded as they exited the gallery.

After walking half of the block in silence, Rick finally released her as he stopped and turned to face her. He hated not knowing what was going on with her, but even more than that, he hated knowing when she was lying to him.

"Okay, let's try this again Michonne….Is everything alright? And don't tell me it is, cause you can't even look at me right now."

She said nothing. She could feel her frustrations growing inside of her by the second. She wasn't ready to talk to him as yet. She was still too confused…she felt that she needed to figure it out on her own.

"Are you trying to make me angry? Cause I'm getting there." He declared as he narrowed his eyes at her.

She sighed heavily, "No, Rick."

"Then you're punishing me? Because 'being busy' is no excuse for not getting back to me."

"What? Ugh! Could you just stop?"

"Could you?"

"Oh real mature Agent!"

Rick pinched the bridge of his nose in attempt to stay calm. He decided to try again.

"Tell me what did I do?"

Michonne felt out of sorts with herself, she was fighting this man with whom she was in-love with for no real reason. And she knew she wasn't being fair, but the alternative terrified her. She slumped her shoulders and folded her arms across her mid-section.

"Well…" he began "…whatever it is, I'm sorry."

She shook her head "No….it's not you….it's me…." She admitted taking a deep breath but going silent again.

His eyebrows shot up. "What…you, you did somethan'? You umm…was there someone else?" Rick now started to feel panic as he imagined just where that conversation was possibly going.

"No Rick! Nothing like that. You know me, I'm not like that."

He exhaled deeply, "Do I? Because right now you have me playing the god damned guessing game?" he retorted, as his own frustrations were getting the better of him. All that he could think of was that even after everything, she still won't let him see her….not completely. 'Always so damn guarded.'

"I'm sorry! Ok! This is hard for me." She offered.

"What, what is hard for you?"

"This! You!" she gritted her teeth trying hard not to cry. 'Don't be such a baby, you're a grown woman Michonne!' she scolded herself. "You, not being here…I'm sending myself crazy! And I hate it! I can't even look at you….I feel so embarrassed."

Rick grabbed her by her arms as he scrunched his face in confusion at her. He tried to understand what she was saying. "Don't, ok, you don't ever have to feel embarrassed about anythan' with me…" He glided his hands up to her shoulders to hold her attention better.

"Listen to me, I'm certain, that I adore you." He nodded his head "I do. But do you trust me?"

"Yeah." She replied weakly.

"Then prove it. Just talk to me."

Lifting her teary eyes to finally meet his, Michonne exhaled deeply, her heart thumping a mile a minute.

"You've been gone four times within the past five months…usually for two to three days, but this time you left me for a week." She stated plainly as tears were streaming down her face.

"Left you? You said you were okay with this."

"I am…but I've been feeling messed up, because it's like…it's like being with Mike all over again….and I know I know it doesn't make sense, but it's how I feel. It's confusing... but I'm hoping to get over it, cause like I said it's not really you, it's me."

Rick closed his eyes and pulled her in for a hug. He felt sad for her, but, he felt relieved at the same time.

"Listen, babe, here's what I think…" he spoke sympathetically now. "You, have to forgive Mike for everythan'…You have to. If you're wanna let that shit go, you just have to do it."

She pulled away from his embrace and looked up at him, "I thought I did…I guess, I was wrong."

"It ain't easy….trust me, I know. What I went through with Lori….hell sometimes thangs would just hit me outta nowhere, like a damned freight train. I get it Michonne."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah….now what I don't get, is you thinking that I'm not in this thing with you one-hundred percent. I'm not okay with you shutting me out. We're past that bullshit."

"I don't know what to say…It's not like I want to hurt you."

"But you do….When you pull this on me. Have faith in me, have faith in us...Don't you want everything?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Good…cause I want everything too." Rick, at that moment took two steps back, away from her, and then reached into his pocket. "Now this ain't exactly how I'd planned for tonight to go, hell you should see my apartment…..but…." He tilted his head from side to side and opened his hand to reveal a small red velvet box in his palm.

Michonne's eyes widened as she gasped at the item he held out before her. "Rick….what is this?" she whispered.

"It's for you."

"Don't you think it's too soon?"

"Michonne I got this the same damn week I moved out here in Atlanta, so…" he shrugged his shoulders and shifted to one side, "…no, I don't think so."

He then proceeded to open the box and took out an engagement ring from inside.

"Michonne Danvers, everythan' I need is right here in front of me." He tucked the box back into his pocket and stepped right up to her, causing her breath to hitch. He cupped her face and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. Adoringly, he smiled at her, "I know I've been a real pain and all, but you…you're complex and one-of-a-kind and I'm already yours….Michonne, will you be my wife?"

Almost speechless, she locked her gaze on his hopeful eyes, then, she leaned in to him as she ran her hand through his freshly cut hair and then over the back of his neck. Tilting her head to the side she smiled sweetly at him while nodding her head in agreement, "Yeah, I think I might."

The End.


	12. Chapter 12

5 Years Later

Carl intensely glowered at the back of Michonne with feelings of genuine irritation fixedly rising within his chest. When she turned around to face him again, he quickly closed his eyes shut in order to quell his growing frustrations, for he was in no mood for a standoff with his step-mother, especially not on that particular Spring day, and especially not over something as trivial as this.

"I don't see what the problem is Michonne!" he complained through gritted teeth. He leaned forward and gripped the table before him.

"Of course you don't, but I do! This just isn't right Carl."

He re-opened his eyes to stare at her in disbelief. With one hand on her lower back and the other massaging her temple, she looked exasperated. "How many times are we gonna do this? I mean don't you have somewhere to be?" he questioned her.

"Excuse me? I am not leaving here until we get it right, do you hear me?"

"And I'm telling you that it is right!" Carl bellowed as he stood up straight now, towering above her at nearly six feet.

Contrary to his protests, Michonne squared her shoulders and stepped even closer towards him, determined to have her way. With narrowed eyes fixed on him, she extended her arm and sternly pointed to the can that sat on the table between them. "Carl…" she began again in a soft but persistent voice, "…that-is-not Cobalt blue!"

"Yes it is!" he quickly retorted. "Look at the chart." He sighed heavily, "Are you going to do this whole day? You asked me to come here during my Spring Break to help Dad out with the nursery, but you're fighting me every step of the way!"

At her wits end, she flung her hands up in the air, "Fine…I'll do it myself! Hand me that turquoise…"

"No, if you add any more to the mix you'll definitely throw the hue off." He then shifted whilst holding his palm out to block her.

"Is this some kind of game to you? This blue is too dark…" suddenly, her voice broke as tears stung her eyes. 'Shit…damn hormones!' she swore internally. She took a deep breath to maintain her composure and cleared her throat. "It has to be right…colours can affect a baby's mood, their behavior….even their health."

"And what about paint fumes?" boomed an irate Rick who suddenly appeared at the doorway.

Caught by surprise, both Michonne and Carl were startled as they didn't hear him come in.

"Hey you're back! Rick sweetie..." she started her eyes wide open like a scared deer's.

He shook his head at her "I don't wanna hear it. Michonne, why are you here? I thought you'd be picking up Judes from her play date at Sasha's by now."

"Dad she won't leave me alone," Carl complained. "I tried to tell her…"

Instantly Michonne shot daggers at him prompting him into immediate silence. But then, with a smirk on her face she turned to her husband, "Hey babe did Carl tell you that he'd decided to attend the School of Visual Arts?"

Carl's jaw dropped open at Michonne's betrayal. He hadn't had the nerve to talk to his Dad about his college plans just yet as he was still working up to it. "I can't believe you….you're such a monster when you're pregnant you know that!"

Rick scrunched his face in confusion, "Now which school is that? Not the one in New York right? Cause that's not happening."

Carl huffed as he stormed out of the room. "I'm going to call Enid."

Michonne exhaled heavily as regret instantly jabbed her in the heart. "Ok ok, Carl I'm sorry!" she called out after him as he went bolting down the stairs. "Damn it, now I'm really gonna have to make it up to him...he's been so patient and I'm just, just..."

"Such a pain?" Rick chuckled as he stepped over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to guide her out of the nursery. "He'll get over it...he usually can't stay mad at you. Anyways, you're not supposed to be in there when it's getting painted…."

She sighed again, "I know…but you know how I get."

"Yeah, I do. Now what's this about school in New York? I thought we decided that the artsy one right here in Georgia...Savannah something...was just as good for graphic artists?"

"It is, but you're the one who decided." Michonne then hesitated not wanting to say anything more concerning Carl's business. She'd let her emotions get the better of her causing her to already say too much. Carl had confided that Enid had gotten accepted into NYU. He didn't believe in long-distance relationships and he wasn't going to break up with her either. He loved her, he wanted to be with her. 'Like Father like son.'

"I think you need to have a real talk to him about that."

Rick's eyebrows rose as his curiosity was now most surely peaked.

"Anyways, I'm leaving now." She announced as she planted a kiss full on her husband's lips before heading down the stairs.

"Wait you're not gonna change?"

Michonne came to a stop at once. Slowly she turned back around with a doleful expression.

"What's wrong with how I look? She pouted.

Dressed in sweat pants and a white tank top, Rick thought she looked like she just rolled out of bed…not that he would even utter those words to her.

"Nothing, nothing sweetheart" he swiftly retracted as he perceived her instant change in mood. "You're gorgeous, as always." But it wasn't enough. Suddenly she burst into tears before him. Rick promptly went over and pulled her in an embrace to soothe her. "No no no, don't do that…I didn't mean anythan' by it." Pulling back a little, he cupped her face peppering kisses all over, and, gently, made his way down her neck where Rick instantly became intoxicated by his wife's familiar scent.

Keenly excited now, he held his sniffling wife tighter against him, grasping her earlobe between his teeth.

Michonne giggled and moved away from her shameless husband. "I blame you, you know…" she said as she wiped away her tears.

"Yeah? For what now?" he asked as he gazed at her lustfully.

"You're the one who has me in this predicament….always taking chances."

"Yeah…." He winked at her while grinning unabashedly. "Actually, to be honest, it's you that got yourself into this predicament Michonne. I'm not the one who forced you to sneak off to Virginia for a "girls' vacation"."

"I guess…" she laughed as she conceded. He was right though...it was her idea for her and Rosita to secretly visit a specialist center in Reston. She went to get her pelvic scar tissues surgically removed as a surprise for Rick two months before their wedding day. She only confessed to him about it on their wedding night. Needless to say, the procedure was a success; within a year they had their beautiful baby girl Judith.

Michonne recalled the exact day she'd made the decision to seriously look into her fertility options. Four months prior to their wedding day, they went to visit Sasha and Abraham at the hospital after the birth of their second child Tiana. She couldn't help but observe how Rick's eyes gleamed at the tiny ball of flesh and tears that squealed in her proud father's arms. Behind his piercing blue eyes she saw a definite longing. Rick wanted it all.

"And I'm glad you did sweetie, it meant everythan' to me."

"Yeah, me too." She smiled sweetly at him and stroked his cheek with the back of her hand as she'd now grown accustomed to doing.

"Now this pants darlin' has got paint on it…"

"Alright, alright I'll change." Michonne pulled away from him and went in to their room to quickly put something else on. She was already an hour late for collecting her child.

Just then, Carl came running back upstairs, "Dad…look, this just came for you. I signed for it," he said as he handed Rick a white 8x14 envelope. "Listen, Enid's coming over later...we have to talk...so I'm gonna go-ahead and get started in the nursery, ok?"

"Yeah, ok." he responded distractedly. He peered skeptically at the sender's label on the slim package: 'FBI Art Theft Program Manager: Andrea Harrison'. Puzzled, he immediately tore the envelope open and pulled out some documents, the first of which was an 8x10 photo of an old painting. "Michonne!" he hollered down the hall.

"Yeah babe, hold on."

"Come and look at this will ya?"

"Rick I'm putting on my shoes…hold on."

But he couldn't hold on so he made his way to the bedroom and sat before her on the edge of their bed. "Hey babe, I got something here from Andrea."

Michonne, who was now clad in a casual trench coat over a dark coloured shift dress and a pair of flats, squinted her eyes at him "Andrea? We haven't heard from her in a long time. What is it?"

"I don't know just yet. Here look at this. Does it look familiar to you?"

She nodded as she took the photo from his hand. "Yeah….I think it's a Dutch painting, possibly from the 17th century. Why, what's wrong?"

"Well according to this report from Andrea, it's from a private collection in the Netherlands which was on loan to the Hapsburg Museum here in the US."

"Ok…"

"While in transit back to Europe last month, though, it got stolen."

"And what does that have to do with you? You don't work those cases anymore."

"No, but….according to this…" he responded, as he quickly scanned through the pages, "Andrea's sources claim that the painting has been traced to here in Atlanta."

Michonne's eyebrows shot up, "Really? Well it's the first time I'm even hearing about this….But why Rick? Why send you this file here at our home? Why not address it to the office?"

Rick then swallowed hard as he indicated for her to sit next him. "Well…" he started, "…I think it's because of you." He then handed her the last page of the report. "Read the end of the first paragraph….right there," he pointed out. "Look at who's a main suspect in this case."

As she peered down to where Rick placed his finger, her mouth dropped open the instant her eyes fell upon a name she knew all too well. "Are you kidding me….Bob Stookey?"

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A/N: So that's all folks…. Did you enjoy the epilogue? I hope so, it was harder than I expected it to be...On a side note the surgery mentioned, the procedure is minimally invasive and the recovery period after is only one to two days, just in case anyone was wondering how Michonne could've kept that a secret. Patients can often begin trying to become pregnant in one to two months afterwards.


End file.
